Daisies Don't Grow in Dungeons
by LoveandChampionships
Summary: Hannah Hart is the youngest member of the esteemed Hart family and aspires to bring life to the WWF's failing women's division. But after falling in love with the enemy, she must choose between her family, her love, and herself. HBK/OC. Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Triple H.
1. Chapter 1: A New Hart

**September 22** **nd** **, 1996**

The dingy concrete hallways of gray were likely an environment unappealing to about 95% of the general population, but she ran into its embrace and felt nothing but its warmth. Its unique appeal that spoke to her in a language most were not fluent in, nor did they want to be. She stopped running when she felt as though she were deep enough inside, taking in all the decorations surrounding her. There was a new sight every place her eyes landed, and she laughed in dizzy amazement, her hands cupping the back of her head.

"Wait up, Hannah!"

Hannah looked back towards her brother Owen, where he walked beside his tag team partner—and their brother-in-law—Davey Boy Smith. They were sharing private words, eyes bemused as they watched her with something like wistful remembrance.

As if she couldn't contain the utter joy within her, she bounced back over towards them, a bundle of tireless energy compared to their steady gait.

"I just can't believe I'm actually _here_!" She said, her body kneeling over as if the words she spoke weighed her down as they left her lips, only to spring up straight again, as if there were a trampoline under her feet.

Owen laughed, shaking his head. "You've been here before, goof."

"Yeah, but it's _different_."

She didn't see the gray, didn't see the concrete. Instead, she saw the color, the brazen and bold costumes and bulging muscles. Wrestlers were walking every which way with purpose around the labyrinth of the arena, halfway dressed for the show, while backstage workers and officials ran in between them; a picture of chaos that still managed to seem orderly. Vince McMahon's masterpiece was impressive, to say the least, and unlike anything she had ever witnessed. Before, she had only been glimpsing through windows and now that she was through the doors, she was here to stay.

She was walking backwards now, laughter uncontainable, when her back hit a wall. As she turned, she could feel the smile slip off her face and her breath catch in her throat. Rather than a wall, she found herself staring wide-eyed first on huge black boots she didn't even want to know the size of, before traveling all the way up to detached eyes lined in black. They appraised her briefly, without curiosity or even a hint of respect. His dark wet hair dripped down his back and she felt a drop or two hit her shoulder.

"Watch it, kid." It was the Undertaker, and he was every bit as massive as he was on TV, his voice somehow sounding deeper. He was a prized possession here, one of the many spectacles that could stop her in her tracks immediately in pure awe.

"Sorry," She squeaked, her voice dying in her throat, before dipping her head respectfully and shrinking back and away closer to Owen and Davey, her hands clasped in front of her like a child who had just been scolded. He continued on his way without interest, walking alongside Paul Bearer whom she hadn't noticed before, disappearing into a locker room where the Undertaker had to duck under the doorframe to enter.

Hannah stared after him for a moment, before Davey's bellow made her jump.

"Like a deer in headlights, eh mate?" He grinned, giving Owen's shoulder what was supposed to be a light hit with the back of his hand. "I bet Taker scared the piss out of ya!" He teased, shaking her shoulder now. When Owen glanced towards her, he began to smile as if he couldn't help himself. Hannah stared back at the men indignantly.

"No!" She retorted, though glanced back over her shoulder. "Of course not. I just wasn't expecting him to be so…big."

"Now you know how I feel, eh?" Owen replied, patting her back to keep her moving along. "Imagine him dropping you on your head. C'mon, we've gotta talk about the plan for tonight."

"Ah! Hannah Hart has finally arrived!" A voice called before she could reply. A man with white hair and a warm smile looked her over as he shook hands in greeting with Owen and Davey. She quickly had her hand readily extended, which he grabbed and used to pull her instead, into a hug. "Do you remember me, young lady?" Many people asked her that often, and sometimes the answer would be no, which of course she would never say. This was not one of those times.

"Of course I do, Mr. Patterson. It's great to see you, sir!" She replied, giving his frame a squeeze. He held her at arm's length, a pleased beam on his face that was just another thing that made her feel at home.

"Always a family of manners." He observed, looking from her to Owen and Davey. "Please, honey, call me Pat from now on. You know, you've got a lot of hype to live up to, being the baby sister to not only Owen, but Bret, and daughter to Stu, and then you've got Davey here, and Jim..." She laughed a bit, shooting her family a sly look.

"Well, Pat, just give me a few months and they'll have to live up to _me_." Hannah replied, earning a bellow of appreciative laughter from Pat, along with laughter from her family.

"Well, what do we have going on here?" Hannah looked behind Pat's shoulder to see none other than Vince McMahon approaching. "Are we already stirring up trouble here, Miss Hannah?" He had a growing smile on his face with an extended hand.

This wasn't the first time they had met, rather, it was the first time they had greeted each other as boss to employee. His presence was still just as intimidating, perhaps even more so now. She concentrated on gripping his hand firmly—a must backstage for all wrestlers—though had to bite back a frown when his grip nearly crushed her hand. "Oh, no, of course not, sir. I was just telling Pat I plan to be a model employee." Pat beamed and Vince let out a laugh.

"Well, in that case, it is the utmost pleasure to finally have you here with us."

"The pleasure's truly all mine, sir." He gave her a nod, a nod so casual, yet still had enough presence to send an aware chill down her spine. Here she finally was, standing so nonchalantly in the presence of Vince McMahon himself. Hearing all the praise and thrilled talk of her from the people here in the WWF sent a special feeling of pride throughout her core, and the feeling was all she suddenly wanted, a new craving that she could get used to.

"We've got big plans for you," Vince continued. Her eyes grew wider and her heart swelled and soared at his words as visions began flickering in her head. "As a matter of fact, I think you could be one of the greatest valets _of all time_." The first dream bubble had been popped.

"Oh…right. Yes." Crashing from the clouds to the ground was certainly a rough landing, and she found herself blinking a few times, like waking up from a pleasant dream. Too often, she knew, she got her hopes up.

"Something wrong?" Everyone was looking at her now, but Vince was the hardest to face. His expressionless features were almost terrifying, as if at any moment he could just explode. Quickly, she put on a bright beam.

"Oh nothing at all, Mr. McMahon, I'm just so star struck—just earlier the Undertaker walked right in front of me and I mean, _wow_ —is he tall!" The men were all back to lighthearted smiles and knowing chuckles they shared between each other and she relaxed again. "I'm just so happy to be here, it's truly an honor."

"Ah. Yes, well." Mr. McMahon smiled with a pursed lip grin, as though he were holding in a secret. "Do you want to know the _real_ reason I hired you?"

"I would love to." She smiled, trying to tell herself over and over not to get her hopes up. Again.

"I am well acquainted with your father, as well as your family. But, as soon as I saw your tear-stricken face as you ran to your big brother and hugged him, I felt the love you have for your family, for Bret. That night, your brother didn't even win his iron man match at WrestleMania, but you treated him like a champ. And I thought to myself, 'Dammit, it writes itself! The baby Hart, cheering her family on!' Being their prime motivator, the heart of the Harts." Owen grinned proudly and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah, well, she's always been the little princess in our family." Owen teased, squeezing her frame. Vince laughed, nodding. Hannah smiled sheepishly.

"As your father said, the apple of his eye. Well, Hannah, speaking from the WWF as a whole, I would love to personally welcome you to this misfit family with open arms. And don't you get any jitters for tonight; the fans will be behind you and whomever you manage without a shadow of a doubt." Vince smiled as Pat nodded, both oblivious to her growing disdain. And now as she looked closer into Vince's beady eyes, she could in fact see the rumored avarice she'd heard about within them, almost as if she were a brand-new toy in his collection of expendable playthings.

"In due time, I'll bet you'll be able to manipulate the fans to feel any way you want them to feel." Pat added with a tone that was trying to illicit excitement from her. She found herself wearing a soggy half-smile.

"I can only hope." She murmured, earning pleased smiles.

"Once again, welcome on board, Hannah." He and Pat shuffled away, off to deal with other business matters. Owen turned towards her, staring at her curiously.

"Hannah, you know it's not too late to drop out right?" He told her seriously. She blinked at him, before realizing Owen always saw right through her. He teased her constantly for being an open book.

"Actually, O, she signed the contract." Davey pointed out. She took a breath and smiled at her brother, answering honestly.

"No, no—this is…a dream come true. It's a little different than I had in mind, but…I love the WWF, and I get to be with family." It wasn't a lie, not even a little bit. He smiled warmly, patting her back.

"Alright, well c'mon, let's take you to the women's locker room."

Soon, Owen was pointing out the door with that sign that read _FEMALE TALENT_ with a clipart printed underneath of a woman's silhouette wearing heels, a feathered boa, and a feathered hat. Hannah inspected it for a moment with a tilted head. "Every area is laid out a little different, but this is where you'll spend your time most nights. Anyways, about tonight, it should be real simple. We're replacing Cornette with you for our manager, so I'll introduce you out, we'll do our thing in the ring, and you just cheer us on from ringside. Easy." She nodded patiently at Owen.

"You sure you got all that? It's a lot to take in." Davey said. She frowned a little at him.

"How hard can it be?" He laughed.

"You're telling me." At that, she kept her frown.

"It is easy." Owen reassured her. "Easy as pie. We'll come and get you after we get changed in about 20 minutes, alright?" He made sure she nodded at him. Davey offered a toothy grin as he turned to leave.

"Make some friends, not enemies!" She smiled in acknowledgement before they walked away together, and as she watched, it felt like they left her to go where she wasn't allowed, or wanted. She shook her head out of her state and turned to the door, snorting now at the clipart.

Inside, she hoped to find inside other women with like-minded goals as her, comradery she had seen shared by her brothers and their peers at the promotions they had wrestled with.

Behind the wrapping wall that kept the large dressing room hidden were just three women, and they only made the room seem bigger. They were all blonde, with identical trim, tan, and petite bodies packed with just the right amount of muscle mass to be found ideal. Adding Hannah, that made now four almost identical blondes.

"Hi, ladies." She spoke up and remembered etiquette, extending her hand after setting her bag down. "I'm—"

"Hannah Hart." The blonde that appeared closest to her in age immediately spoke up. She stared at her for a minute, caught off guard by her outspokenness, before she realized it was Sunny. They had spoken once briefly, at WrestleMania 12 backstage. Not much had been said between them, only a greeting and compliments and small-talk.

"You remember me?" She asked in slight surprise, smiling with her hand still extended. Sunny only went back to applying her lipstick.

"'Course I remember you! Not easy to forget Bret Hart's baby sister. It's kind of weird thinking _I_ could be Bret's younger sister, you know, since we're the same age—he mentions that a lot."

"Bret's baby sister!" The smallest of the blonde's—Marlena, if her memory were correct—stood up with a warm smile. Like Pat, she took her extended hand and pulled her into a tight hug, the doting kind that rocked from side to side. "Oh, he's told us all so much about you!"

"Yeah he has." Sunny laughed to herself, smacking her lips together. Hannah looked between the women, a question on her lips, but got talked over.

"It's so nice to finally have you! Gosh, I feel like I already know you!" Marlena continued to gush, and though she liked the woman's enthusiasm right away, she couldn't help but wonder the things Bret had been telling seemingly everyone.

"Well, it's great to be here, especially being away from the men." Hannah laughed light-heartedly.

"Not as great as it is having another woman around with all these men. I'm Sable." The lavish blonde gave her an idle wave from where she sat in a chair, feet propped up on the makeup desk. She reminded Hannah of a pampered Persian cat, except the cartoon-ized ones that were made to be sultry. "You and Sunny seem to know each other; maybe you two could even start traveling together."

"Oh, I only travel with Shawn, you know that, Sable." Sunny replied with a school-girl smile.

"Oh, it's Shawn again? My bad." Sable asked her dryly, giving Hannah a shrug before going back to the magazine she had been flipping through. Sunny ignored her and continued on just as happily.

"Speaking of which, I have plans to discuss with him for our grand date tomorrow night…It's been nearly a year now." She leaned close to the mirror, trading seductive smirks and smiles at herself and checking her teeth for lipstick.

"Hasn't it only been around eight or nine months?" Marlena asked as she counted on her fingers.

"Pretty much a year." Sunny insisted.

"I thought you two weren't anything serious?" Sable added, not looking up from her magazine.

"Yeah, well, who knows…maybe he's the one." Sunny said dreamily, winking at Sable in the mirror before turning to Hannah. "You. You're gonna be Owen and Davey's new manager, right?" Hannah nodded. "Thank _God_. Now I don't have to deal with that crusty Cornette anymore, he just won't _leave me alone_. Okay, what's your thing?" Hannah blinked.

"Uh…Well, I'm their sister, basically." Sunny nodded dismissively as she walked around her in a circle.

"Their baby sister. Owen and Davey need a face for them, and that's going to be you. You're the cute and innocent girl-next-door. Play that up to the crowd, you know sweet little debutante, bright eyes and smiles. What are you wearing?" Hannah looked down at her outfit, before looking back up at all the women. They were larger than life, just like the men outside, she realized. Characters, dressed in showy sparkles, or in Sunny's case, like a cowgirl to match the Smoking Gunns. Hannah, in comparison, was wearing long denim overalls, and a pink t-shirt.

"Um, well, this, I guess. I didn't bring anything else. I mean, does it really matter all that much?" Sable scoffed.

"I wouldn't be wearing vinyl out there every night if it didn't. Your image is your most important asset." Marlena nodded in agreement, and Hannah watched her slip out of her sweats into a slinky gold dress. Of course, she knew looks in wrestling were highly important, but this line of business, managerial duties, she had never given much thought to. Of course, she realized, looks mattered. When did they not in wrestling?

Sunny was still frowning at her.

"Toss me the scissors, Sable." The blonde raised her eyebrows before she stood and walked the scissors over.

"What…what are you…?" Sunny said nothing as she knelt down. Without any warning, she began cutting into Hannah's jeans. "Hey, wait!" She protested quickly, no stranger to ribs in this business.

"Relax." Sunny replied calmly and as she continued her work. "You've got legs, you gotta use them. Besides—you look like you belong with the Godwinns right now. You know, you can keep this look up—it'll set you apart from the rest of us gals and leave the audience drooling and pining after the sweetheart. We can even go shopping together, I've been needing new date night dresses." She droned on as she talked, before she finished and grinned at her handy work. "Why don't you take a look, sugar?" Nervously, Hannah approached the full-length mirror and did a 360, taking in her new overalls. They were just short enough, nothing that would give her family a heart attack and left enough to the imagination. She smiled at Sunny in the mirror who smiled back. "You like it?"

"I was afraid you were ribbing me at first," She admitted as she turned, earning a laugh. "It looks so good! Thanks!"

"Don't mention it." She grinned and gave a slap to her butt, making Hannah jump. "See ya in the ring, Hart!" The door slammed behind her and Hannah laughed a little to herself before going back to the mirror.

"What do you girls think? Do I have a look now?" Sable smiled as she looked up from the magazine.

"Adorable." Sable commented.

"Sunny sure does have her tricks." Hannah admitted.

"She's got such a mind for this business. Oh, I just can't wait for you to take off like her! A girl like you though, that shouldn't take long." Marlena grinned sweetly. Hannah looked towards the remaining two blondes.

"So, do you two ever wrestle?" She asked, unable to keep the hopeful tone out of her voice. Marlena's eyes stretched and Sable laughed outright.

"Not a chance in hell." Sable was still laughing. "I manage my husband, Marc. When he got the job, he brought me here too. Vince couldn't stop talking about how beautiful I was." Sable rolled her eyes. "But, hey, it's a paycheck and I get to be with Marc."

"I'm my husband's valet too." Marlena added. "Dustin. Sometimes I have to stop myself from cringing, watching him take all those falls. I couldn't even imagine doing what they do out there." Hannah chuckled and looked down.

"Yeah, I guess not." She checked the clock on the wall, realizing only a few minutes had passed and there was still so much to see that she hadn't. "Ladies, it was nice meeting you. I'm going to go to catering for a bit." They didn't ask any questions, and their goodbye blended into one as she took her first venture out of the women's locker room.

Outside in the hall, the venue felt differently than the solace of the women's dressing room. Feminine reassurance and perfume dissolved together and gave way back to the gray reality of the world of man. Hannah wondered for a moment if those worlds could ever mix and blend.

As she began the process of adjusting to new surroundings, the sound of giggling caught her attention. She didn't want to be nosy, but at the same time she couldn't help but peer down the darker hallway she stood by. There was a man standing with dirty blonde hair in a ponytail with his back to her, blocking the company he was conversing with. She could hear chains and trinkets jingling ever so slightly every time he moved. The giggling erupted again, revealing Sunny as his mystery friend.

"…whatever you want, baby, wherever you want." She heard his voice promise her. It was deep and raspy, yet smooth like velvet all at once. "Now, I gotta go get ready for my match," he tried turning to walk away from her, and Hannah ducked her head out of view, but she relaxed when she saw him get pulled back towards Sunny.

"No!" Sunny protested, another fit of giggles bouncing off the walls. Her laughter muffled before it disappeared completely as their lips assumingly locked.

"Really, it takes time to look this good and it's a state of mind." The male voice said as they broke apart. Hannah didn't know whether to laugh or roll her eyes.

"Will you watch my segment at least? You'll be in for a treat."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure." She heard a loud smooch again, and then silence. Hannah frowned, leaning cautiously around the corner only to run smack into someone. It was the man, who she quickly realized wasn't just any other wrestler as the WWF title slipped from around his waist to the ground.

"Oh!" She gasped, jumping back a little, frozen in place as Shawn Michaels looked down at her, a picture of annoyance and an already open mouth about to tell her off. She waited to get chewed out, but instead the anger on his face dissolved as they locked eyes. She swallowed, bending down to pick up the title, and looked for Sunny hopefully for back-up, but the blonde had long disappeared. "This is the second time I've run right into someone tonight. I thought the Undertaker was bad—I'm so sorry." She said as she stood back up, realizing his eyes had never left her. Her stomach fluttered as she extended the title back towards him, but he ignored the gesture.

"…Don't sweat it." He was staring so hard at her it felt like there were answers written on her face. "How come I've never seen you around before? You new?"

"Tonight's my first night, actually. And I'm trying really hard not to make a bad impression…" She trailed off hopefully. Finally, a slow-building grin graced his face, and she felt the corners of her mouth pulling up too.

"I don't think that's possible." He said, his eyes very blatantly traveling down her body. "What's your name?"

"Johannah." She replied, for a moment remembering that she was having a conversation with the current WWF champion. Every other time she had seen him before in a backstage setting, she had always been much too intimidated by him. "But everyone calls me Hannah."

"Hannah." He repeated, as if he were trying on clothes to see if he liked it. He grinned at her. "Well, Hannah, I'm—"

"Shawn Michaels." She replied, fighting a smile as he raised an eyebrow. "I know who you are." She pressed the title towards him, to which he finally seemed to notice, and chuckled.

"Right, of course." He said, a tinge of pride floating back into his tone. His hands touched hers as he grabbed the title, but didn't put it back on. Instead, he only looked at her, his eyes glinting. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Huh? Oh, er, just…I was…uh, heading to catering—I wasn't listening to you and Sunny talking or anything." She blabbered, swallowing again and chuckling nervously as he snorted.

"I mean, what's your job? Are you another valet?" His words implied she was just like the rest of the women she had met tonight, but the way his eyes stayed on her, like a fly caught on honey, made her believe otherwise.

"…Yeah." She admitted reluctantly, and waited for him to continue on his way dismissively. Instead, an even bigger smile than she had ever seen grew on his face, as if he were listening to a building joke. She watched curiously as he lifted his title and placed it onto her shoulder. It was heavier than she expected, but he raised his eyebrows promptingly, and she raised her hand to hold it in place. He stepped back a little, tilting his head. Her finger stroked over the raised lettering that spelt his name, but for a moment, she pretended like it was hers. The thought made her laugh.

Shawn was grinning, a touch of superiority in his tone. "How does that feel?" She looked back down at the title.

"How does it _look_?" He took a moment, before he stepped closer again, unexpectedly.

"I'd say good, but I can name something that would look better." Hannah backed up, blinking. "If it doesn't work out with whatever shmuck you're managing, I think the three of us would make a great team." She couldn't tell if he was serious or not. Her stomach was in a flurry, like she had just been dropped from a rollercoaster, and it made her shove the title towards him and herself take a panicked step back. Shawn lost his smile too.

"D-Don't you have a match to get ready for?" He chuckled, appearing amused. "I mean, I'm just guessing, anyways…you've never really faced anyone like Mankind before. You should probably be getting focused." Suddenly, Shawn's eyes narrowed and he snatched the title from her hands before shouldering it almost aggressively.

"What's that supposed to mean? I already know I'm going over." His chin was raised ever so slightly, a hard and challenging glint in his eyes.

"Sure, but you still have to have a good match. I'm just saying Mankind is a little more…" she looked him up and down, taking in his shiny and glitzy ring apparel with matching earrings and hat. With every move he made, he sparkled and jingled. "Hardcore. Compared to you." She could've sworn she actually heard Shawn huff, and she raised her eyebrows bewilderedly as he marched up to get in her face, this time with a different intention in his eyes.

"Listen here, sweetheart, I have this title for a reason, and it's because there's no one else in this company who can carry it single-handedly other than me. Nobody else's name is anything in comparison to Shawn Michaels!" She had clearly struck a nerve, if his sudden yelling was anything to go off of, but for some reason, she didn't exactly feel threatened. Instead, she just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Until Bret comes back, anyways." Shawn was rendered silent for a moment, but she saw his eyes flash.

"And how do you know Bret's even coming back? Last I heard, no one knew anything for certain."

"I don't, you're right. He might get a better deal at WCW." She shrugged. "He's a hot commodity right now, that's for sure." Though she remained nonchalant, she could tell by the way Shawn's jaw was clenching she was only digging some kind of hole, and she thought back to Davey's words. "…Anyways, um…good luck tonight." She murmured, offering a half-smile as she backed away.

"Yeah, well I don't need it!" He snapped, and he turned and walked away, hurrying faster as he called after her. "And I hope you're watching too so you know what I'm talking about!"

Hannah's heart was still fluttering the further she got from Shawn, but she wasn't quite sure why. Not once was she scared during their interaction, but she couldn't believe how much electricity had passed between them. It was like whiplash, and she felt like she had spent an hour and nothing with him, their conversation had tried going so many directions.

For some reason, talking to Shawn Michaels felt more surreal than anything else so far. All she could remember was sitting front row at WrestleMania 12, watching Shawn zipline down to the ring in grand pageantry, so much larger than life. Watching her brother Bret and Shawn stand nose to nose before their iconic hour-long match, watching Shawn collapse to his knees and hold his first WWF championship and feeling nothing but envious.

"Joey, hey, everything alright?" Owen called and she jumped, quickly turning to see Owen and Davey approaching, Jim Cornette in tow. Davey appeared perplexed.

"What happened to your pants?" He asked, as if she had down a magic trick.

"Sunny got to me. Said I looked like a Godwinn" She said, making her family laugh. Jim remained neutral, and she turned her full attention to him. She smiled politely and stuck her hand out, growing confused when he only stood looking at her, before putting his hands on his hips. His critical gaze had quickly soured to an annoyed scowl.

" _Now_ I see why they replaced me." He muttered. "Vince found a goldmine with this one."

"Well, gold _is_ what they're winning tonight." She joked weakly, eyeing his disdain with uncertainty. Davey laughed appreciatively, though Owen rolled his eyes in distaste, shaking his head. Jim though, had been her intended audience, and it seemed as if she had earned his approval, as well as a handshake and a much more pleasant expression on his features.

"You better do them some good, young lady. But, with a face like that, taking the spotlight from Sunny should be as easy as taking candy from a baby." Hannah faked a pleasant laugh and kept a smile on her face.

"Ready?" Owen asked her once again, looking at her carefully. "You understand what you're supposed to do?" She smiled, and he seemed pleased without her even needing to give a reply, but she did anyway.

"Ready."

* * *

"You know, it was brought to our attention that our manager, Jim Cornette, just hasn't been getting the job done lately." Owen was speaking into the mic beside Davey in the ring as she waited backstage in Gorilla position, watching from a monitor. Sunny and the Smoking Gunns were in the ring as well, watching Owen cautiously. "Bulldog and I are moving on and moving up, and we need someone to take us to those new heights, and I have just the person in mind to do that. She's a better manager than that lousy Cornette, and _definitely_ a better manager than Sunny—" Sunny began circling her team, crying out in outrage at Owen's insult. "—she's our good luck charm…she's my baby sister, Hannah Hart!" Owen's theme played as hers, and she took a deep breath, trying not to think about the fact that she had always dreamt of this exact moment.

It was almost surreal to see the fans face-to-face after watching them from the monitors in the back, or TV's from home. Eager faces peered and strained to get a look at her, and she took in each one, examining their features. By the time she had made it to the ring, she had a good flood of cheers going. She waved one last time before taking the microphone from Owen.

"You know, Owen, I couldn't be prouder to represent you and my brother-in-law, Davey Boy Smith, and I'm confident that we'll be walking out with the WWF Tag Team Championship tonight!" The crowd cheered and ate up the words of earnest confidence, and she smiled wider at the sound of it. She took a step closer to Sunny, who was pouting. "Oh, and Sunny, I know how you like your attention. We didn't forget about you, honey!" Hannah pointed upwards, and a large poster popped out from the ceiling, revealing Sunny with hand-drawn doodles, courtesy of Owen himself, which included a mustache. The three of them laughed and pointed as Sunny threw a tantrum, and the Smoking Gunns tried to appease her, and then finally the match was underway.

From ringside, she never lost focus of her character, but then, it wasn't too hard cheering for Owen and Bulldog. Like Bret always said, playing a character that was close to home wasn't an act. It wasn't long before Davey hit a running powerslam and the match ended with a clean pin. Just as the bell sounded, she jumped up into the air and quickly ran to retrieve the titles to present to her team. They took them proudly, smiles of pleasure and zeal, and the two of them hoistered her onto their shoulders, where she perched as they held the titles in the air. Together, they walked in glory backstage, but the glory ended right as they stepped back through the curtain, and the next set of wrestlers walked out. Hannah blinked several times—it was like walking into a dark room after being out in the sun—and did her best trying to calm the biggest hit of adrenaline she'd ever experienced in a wrestling setting.

"That was great! Oh, all those people out there, did you _hear_ them?" She exclaimed in excitement when the feeling hadn't calmed. Owen laughed with her, sharing the jubilation of the moment.

"You got us those cheers." Owen encouraged, skin shining with sweat, eyes still flashing from their match.

"Are you kidding me, you were both so incredible!" She was nearly overwhelmed with the rush and hugged them both, not caring that they were sweaty, making even the air around them thick with heat.

"You always had a way of inflatin' my head, JoJo." Davey told her, probably referring to the times when she was younger and cited him and Dynamite as her favorite wrestlers. He always called her his favorite sister-in-law. "But I don't think anyone out there was payin' Owen and I any mind."

The plethora of emotion that attacked her made her cling to them for a long while. Reality was trying to click in her head as she realized she had the opportunity now to travel with her family, to spend time that had been lost over the years with them.

"It only gets better from here," Owen promised, as if he could tell exactly what she was thinking. She nodded her head eagerly. The only direction from here was up.

* * *

"Hey, you hear about the newest Hart?" One of the Smoking Gunns asked Shawn as they dressed in the locker room. Shawn raised a quizzical and half-caring eyebrow, first wondering why a member of a jobber tag team thought they could address him before asking his second thought aloud.

"Good God, there's another?"

"The youngest, apparently. Younger than Bret by fifteen years, or so I heard. A real head-turner though." Shawn snorted.

"One fucked up family." He replied without caring who heard. He pushed through the men dressing, trying to find Hunter. "Hunter!" He called out in annoyance. There was no answer. He crossed his arms in annoyance; Hunter was never late.

"Hey, Shawn, Sunny's looking for you." The same guy from the Smoking Gunns, or maybe his partner, told him as he passed. Shawn didn't know, he didn't care enough to tell them apart, but he knew one thing for sure; he didn't like his hushed tone and smirk, like he was doing him a favor. He didn't care enough to offer a reply either, and instead finished getting dressed before finally strapping the WWF title around his waist.

He fastened it and felt almost possessive. Tonight, he would be defending it against Mankind, and although he knew he was retaining, he heard what everyone was saying. That he was the reason the ratings were crashing, that he couldn't take the heat, that this match would mark the descent of his championship run. He shook the thoughts from his head gruffly and took one last look around the locker room. He caught the eyes of Owen right before he left the cramped space, and Shawn couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he thought of the newest news of the Harts.

Owen wasn't bad, Shawn could deal with Owen. In fact, he'd rather deal with two Owens instead of Bret. Bret Hart, the biggest mark for himself in the entire company of roided up egomaniacs. Sure, he was decent in the ring, the veteran and whatnot, but he had an exaggerated sense of self-importance that drove Shawn crazy. No one else, as far as Bret Hart was concerned, was better or could ever surpass him and his achievements. As the current WWF champion, Shawn hoped Bret wouldn't be resigning a contract with Vince. The talk of this newest Hart made him wary now, and almost eager to see how unimpressive he was.

"There you are!" A high-pitched voice called as soon as he turned down the dim hallway by the women's dressing room. Someone jumped on his back and covered his eyes, letting out a giggle. "Guess who and if you guess right, you'll earn the night of your life."

"Now, it couldn't be the hottest thing in the WWF, my girl Sunny, now could it?" She laughed again and pressed her lips against his cheek, undoubtedly leaving red lip prints.

Sunny wasn't bad either. He could take her in low doses, mainly because being on the road was so lonely and so hard. She had a good mind for the business and she was alive, she made a joke out of everything and helped him pass the time. She made him feel alive. But that was only in small doses, otherwise she drove him nuts. Lately she had insisted they travel together, stay together every waking moment. He didn't like her hints of her ring size, or telling him about the housing markets in San Antonio. He just wanted her attention so he didn't have to think so much.

"So, what do you have planned for tonight?" She asked expectantly as she came into his line of vision. She took his hand and began pulling him to their hallway spot, the dark hallway by the women's dressing room. Normally this was because the moment it became empty, it became theirs to do whatever they pleased.

"It's a surprise." He told her. Truthfully, he hadn't given a thought to it. Her pout told him she wasn't happy with that response.

"Well, what about we pay a visit to downtown? They've got a nice restaurant, a steakhouse, right next to this little jewelry store…" And there she went, at it again, without fail lately. Shawn displayed a poker face as he looked at her, staring right through her as though her words made her dissolve.

"You know we'll do whatever makes you happy. Whatever you want, baby, wherever you want." She broke out into a childish beam and Shawn too smiled, to himself. If needed, he could escape with Hunter, have some drinks, crash in Hunter's room. Somehow, amazingly enough, Sunny still didn't understand he'd tell her whatever he needed to get what he wanted.

And this all happened without incident, like any other night he was used to.

Until he met her.

* * *

Shawn threw the door to the men's locker room open harshly, a little bit of him satisfied as it hit the wall with a bang. No one inside paid any attention however, and he walked through the throng of them grumbling under his breath, finding something about each one of them that annoyed him even further than he already was.

"Not hardcore enough...I'm the only legitimate talent around this dump." Her words echoed in his head. Until Bret comes back. He huffed in anger, feeling hard lines in his face weighing it down.

Shawn went back to the dressing room and pushed to a spot by the monitor, electing to distract himself with proof that he was the most talented guy in the locker room. Coincidently, he found Hunter lacing his boots. He gave him an annoyed swat on the back.

"I've been looking for you." Shawn told him irritably. Hunter put his hands up indifferently, going back to lacing his boots.

"Sue me. I was in catering. What's wrong?" Shawn let out a dramatic huff as he sat next to him.

"Women!" He grumbled.

"Yeah, well I've told you about Sunny 'til I turned blue and you didn't want to listen. Did you forget that time she thought you were flirting with that waitress at Waffle House and keyed your rental before she left with those bikers? And now she wants you to put a ring on it?" The thought of it almost made him sick, and his annoyance pushed at the sound of amusement in Hunter's tone.

The concept of marriage, being tied to one person…that was the absolute last thing his mind wanted to think about. He'd been married before and he didn't want a redo. It was something his parents had wanted out of him, but he wasn't living to please anyone else anymore. Shawn didn't want to marry again, especially not now when his life was supposed to be so limitless, vast and unbounded by any commitment.

Hunter usually knew what was best, Shawn knew that, but if he didn't have Sunny, who would he have? Hunter was great company—his best friend after Nash and Hall had jumped ship—but he couldn't exactly fuck him.

"Wait a minute, did you say women? Who are you badgering now?"

"More like badgering _me_. There's a new girl here, her first night." Hunter blinked at him slowly, waiting for Shawn to explain further, but he didn't want to remind himself of her words that stung a little too much. Hunter resorted to smirking with mild amusement.

"Let me guess; you were hitting on her and she turned you down?" Shawn snorted angrily, before he waved his hand with dismissive aggressiveness. He saw Hunter shrug out of the corner of his eye.

After sitting in silence for a moment, Shawn spoke up again; he could never stay mad around Hunter and he'd probably go mad without him.

"I almost forgot, I heard something earlier—fucking hilarious." He changed the subject, remembering the interesting tidbit he had learned previously. But his train of thought was soon lost completely as his eye caught the monitor.

"What?" Hunter asked, though Shawn hardly heard.

Like magic, she was on screen now, right in front of him. He wasn't sure why the sight surprised him so much—she had told him she was a manager. But it was like he was looking at her for the first time a second time.

She stood in between Owen and Davey—the team she managed, he guessed—pointing and laughing at a poster of Sunny. Really, if they didn't bother, it would almost be difficult to tell the other three valets apart. Sunny, Marlena, and Sable were all blonde and beautiful, and so was Hannah, but somehow she was just different. She was glowing—her smile made his heart clench, just like in the hallway when she held his title on her shoulder.

It was as if he and the camera man were sharing the same thoughts as it zoomed in for a close-up, nothing but her and the fans clapping behind her. The camera loved her, she had one of those faces meant to be plastered all over something. Something took flight in his stomach as her full lips formed the prettiest smile he had seen in years, the smile of one woman that surely could motivate a thousand artists of different avenues a lifetime's worth of inspiration. The kind of woman wars started over. Shawn was enthralled again before he realized it, and then he remembered all over again what she said, and he was annoyed again.

"What?" Hunter repeated, pulling him back to earth.

"Her. She was the one who mouthed off." Shawn said, waiting for Hunter to look up and growing annoyed when he didn't. "Hey," He hit Hunter, trying to get his attention. "Hey, are you even listening?" Hunter finally looked up from his boots, annoyed.

" _What_ , Shawn? You're going a million directions tonight, I don't even know what we're talking about anymore!"

"I'm trying to show you the girl who said I didn't have what it takes to go against Mankind tonight!" He snapped, before Hunter stopped and started chuckling. Shawn crossed his arms, despising his amusement. "She also said Bret was gonna take the title when he comes back, and she was very confident about that."

"Why are you letting it bother you, she's just another blonde with boobs. You know how high management is on blonde valets right now, thinking that's gonna be our way out of this problem. What does she know?" Hunter snorted before beginning to tape his knuckles and wrists. "What were you trying to tell me earlier?" Shawn continued watching the screen, wishing they would show the blonde up close more often, if anything so he could sulk more. He'd never watched a tag team match so closely.

"Apparently they just signed a new Hart." Shawn muttered, now indifferent to the old news. Every so often, Hannah would pop up on the screen, and it only made him more thoughtful. As soon as he saw her, it was like his head had been trying to unlock some distant memory—she just looked so familiar. That smile and twinkling eyes, he could have, and would have, bet his life that he'd seen her somewhere before. Regardless, he was sure she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life, hands down.

"A new Hart? I thought Bret was joking when he said he was trying to get Bruce hired?" Hunter replied.

"No, no, the youngest one." Shawn said, feeling his eyebrows pull together.

"But I thought Owen was the youngest one…?"

"It doesn't matter! Blonde valets don't matter and neither do any of the Harts!" Shawn snapped before he huffed. "Look, after your match be ready to go, I want to get out of here fast. Sunny wants to do something and I don't, so we need to go, got it?" Hunter watched him in slight amusement.

"Oh. I see, now you want to travel with me again." Shawn sent him a threatening glare and Hunter merely chuckled. "Fine, whatever." Hunter replied with a tone that sounded the way someone shrugging looked, before he walked away and began to stretch. Shawn wasn't too worried, however; Hunter always had his back.

* * *

"Hunter! Hurry up!" Shawn yelled outside the door of the locker room. He was fuming, barely changed out of his own attire after wrestling in the main event, and yet Hunter, who opened the show, still wasn't ready. Of course, he had forgotten that even though Hunter was on time to everything, he was also late when leaving. "Fuck." He groaned as he watched the stream of wrestlers leave. _Two more minutes and my ass is outta here_ , Shawn decided. If he had to hitch a ride with one of the referees, he would.

When he heard laughter, high-pitched and unabashed, he froze, until he remembered Sunny always sounded boisterous and rowdy, and this laughter sounded almost melodic. Of course, naturally, it was that Hannah, walking behind Owen and Davey. He felt defiance raging inside him as he wondered if she watched his match, and he was even about to march up and ask her until Owen reached behind him to take her bag.

"We'll bring the car around, alright?" He heard him say, and watched her flash a bright smile.

"Calm down, I'm ready." Hunter's voice appeared beside him. Shawn pointed towards the trio.

"And I thought Owen really was the only faithful husband in this business, look at his new squeeze. I guess the temptation really does get to everyone." Hunter looked to where he was pointing, and his eyes widened.

"That's…." He stopped with a shake of his head, before he veered away from Shawn straight towards Hannah, who was now waiting alone with her arms crossed behind her back, like a school girl. "Hannah?" The blonde's head snapped to the direction of Hunter, and her eyes stretched a bit. She looked as though she were caught red-handed.

"Paul…hi." She greeted him with a shy smile before she hesitantly wrapped her arms around his frame, and Hunter just stood there. Shawn stood still frozen in his spot, bewildered at what was unfolding in front of him. It had been years since he heard anyone call Hunter by his real name. Finally, he moved to stand behind Hunter's shoulder, waiting for Hannah to notice him.

"What are you doing here?" Hunter asked her.

"Er," Her eyes flashed, and she glanced behind her towards where Owen and Davey had disappeared to. "Just leaving…actually, Owen and Davey should be here any minute, we can catch up later, alright?" Shawn listened to her voice, how soft-spoken and high-pitched it was, her words rushed and worried.

Shawn knew there was something else going on here that he didn't understand. Even still, he almost didn't care and instead found himself fantasizing about her, even just her voice. It was almost addicting, like he wanted to hear her read a telephone book. To say his name, hell, to just notice him now. Almost, he almost didn't care, but it was obvious he was playing second fiddle here. Just standing and being ignored, it made him grow impatient and he began scowling; she never took her eyes off of Hunter. It was the opposite of what he was used to.

"Whatdya mean later, did you get signed? After—"

"I'll find you tomorrow, _okay_?" Her voice was growing desperate, her eyes gleaming apologetically. "I can't—"

"Hey," Owen had pulled up and opened the car door. He took in the two men neutrally, before he turned to Hannah. "Do you know them, Hannah?" Hannah looked jumpy.

"Oh, uh, before, you know…at a show, I think. Backstage." She mumbled quickly, and Hunter frowned at her quizzically. "I just saw them and wanted to tell them great job tonight." Shawn raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we're waiting." Shawn spoke up, and he watched as her eyes shot back to him, almost incredulous. She pursed her lips, and Shawn laughed to ease the sudden tension, to which Hunter snorted, and Owen finally chuckled. Hannah still said nothing, only continued to stare at him almost stubbornly.

"Well, Hunter, Shawn," Owen began, and though he was smiling at the two of them, Shawn could see wariness in his expression. "This is my baby sister and the Fed's newest signee, Hannah." Shawn felt his eyebrows raise in shock as he took in the woman in front of him. Beside him, Hunter seemed just as stunned.

Hannah had frozen, and for some reason she was looking only at Hunter with a look of someone who had reached their judgement day. Her eyes were big and full of a silent plea.

"It's nice to meet you, Hannah." Hunter spoke up evenly after a minute, keeping his eyes on Hannah as though they were having a different conversation through mere look. She looked helpless and Shawn looked between the two in confusion, before deciding for the moment, he didn't care what was going on between them. He would be damned if he left without her acknowledging him though.

"So, you liked my match?" Shawn pressed, smiling as he waited for her to respond, smirking and expecting her to deny it. But while she hesitated, she responded in a way he didn't expect.

"…It was a very good match." She said, and he felt his jets cooling as she gave him a pleasant unassuming half-smile. He almost felt lost without a fight to fight. Straight-forward honesty wasn't anything he was used to when he spent so much time with Sunny playing games.

"Just good?" Davey had gotten out of the car and joined them, laughing. "You said it was the best match you've seen this year, you wouldn't shut up about it. You jumped out of your seat!" He laughed again, and Shawn raised an eyebrow at her, watching as pink dismay flooded her face.

"Well, well, well, is that so?" He teased, watching her turn her blush to him now.

"There were a lot of good matches tonight!" She replied with defensive nonchalance, shooting another mortified look at Davey when he laughed again. Before Shawn could continue, Hunter cleared his throat beside him.

"Any chance you'll be getting in the ring yourself, Hannah?" That took her gaze away from him again, frustrating him to no end. A genuine and delicate frown grew on her face.

"Wouldn't that be a sight? I doubt that, huh, JoJo?" Davey teased, elbowing her side. She gave a weak chuckle. "Vince just wanted her to be a valet."

Shawn nodded his head a little, not surprised. _Go figure_ , he thought.

"I can see why." He replied. Hannah looked back to him quickly, only it wasn't with the expression he wanted. The wide-eyed sweetness he had gotten glimpses of was gone and replaced with narrowed steely eyes. It wasn't what he was expecting, but he had her full attention now. He quickly smiled. "I saw you out there tonight. You did a helluva job, that crowd was at your mercy. You're a very beautiful girl." The line didn't get much of a reaction, only another soft half-hearted cardboard chuckle.

"She'll be traveling on the road with us now," Owen murmured slowly, as though he hated to disclose the information. Hannah had now resigned herself to staring down at her shoes, appearing to not want to be there at all. More importantly, she still didn't seem interested in _him_. He was baffled—most women were all over him at this point. He couldn't figure her out.

"Hey, perk up, dollface. You've got the easy job here." Shawn earned laughter of agreement from Davey and he grinned as he slid a finger underneath her chin, trying to make her look up at him and smile again. One smile, a giggle, he would even take a chuckle—something. It was a game he wasn't used to losing. "Standing around and looking pretty—" Suddenly, she jerked her face away and pushed his hand off.

"Well, I'd say you already do a pretty good job of that, boy toy." Her eyes were sparking despite the pleasant smile on her face, and it was there he saw the first sign of real emotion on the blonde. It was like a switch had been flipped; all of a sudden, she was almost a character. "I mean, I haven't even been offered a magazine cover yet." She looked to the other men in the group, and suddenly Shawn felt alienated. Owen was trying to stifle his laughter, unlike Davey who just laughed outright. Even Hunter was smirking, but cleared his throat as Shawn threw him a look.

He didn't quite know what to say for a minute; he could just feel his chest beginning to burn with indignance, but he did his best to keep his cool. He smiled at the blonde as though nothing were wrong.

"Oh, so you've heard?" His voice was edged with tension, and Hannah too seemed to be more tense, he could see her jaw clench and her eyes fluttering as though she were fighting the urge to roll them. Regardless, she replied in the same easy-going soft tone.

"Who hasn't?"

"Well, it hits the stands next month. I can sign one for you if you want. Anything for a fan."

"That's a really hard thing to turn down, but I'm afraid I'll have to say no. I don't think I'm Playgirl's intended audience." She said, giggling a little and gaining another round of laughter. And like their first interaction, he never really quite knew where their conversation was going, but he knew he hated feeling so…unwanted by her.

"Alright, we better get going. Can't miss room service." Owen broke in, and he and Hannah exchanged somewhat of telepathic smiles. Shawn waited for her to say something to him, to look to him one last time just so he could look away, but she didn't. She did, however, glance at Hunter again, her gaze faltering as she did so.

"Nice meeting you," Hunter called as the doors to the car shut and finally drove away. He didn't move for a moment, staring after it with a hard expression. Shawn snorted again.

"You see what I mean? If I had known she was Bret's sister, everything would've made sense all along." No, it wouldn't've, he realized. It actually made less sense, she was too…unlike any of the Harts. Unlike any other woman he had met. He had never been so rattled and entranced by one woman. Hunter was still staring after the long-gone car, chewing his gum thoughtfully. "And you. What the fuck do you two have going on? Clearly you two know each other."

"Let's just go. I'm hungry." He murmured abruptly, picking up his bags again and walking away quickly without looking back. Shawn frowned in confusion and followed behind.

"Hey—Hunter, I'm talking to you!" They made it all the out to the rental without Shawn getting an answer. Hunter, still refusing to answer, was standing outside the driver's door, fumbling with his keys as he stared thoughtfully towards the ground.

Shawn hit the passenger side door in annoyance. "Hey, when you're done with whatever mental crisis you're having, could you kindly unlock the door and maybe stop trying to ignore me?" Silently with a frown, he did so. Shawn stared at his best friend as he put the car in drive, a deep frown still on his face. "Well?" Shawn asked. Hunter glanced at him as if he'd been dragged out of deep thought.

"Nothing. She just looks familiar." Shawn raised an eyebrow before he settled back in the seat.

"I got the same feeling." He admitted, almost reluctantly as he thought back to his initial feelings. The sight of her, it made his heart flutter. He had never let himself get that heated, he always had the last laugh and the lasting satisfaction, but there were times when he genuinely didn't feel so high and mighty when he spoke to her.

"What? Why? How would you know her?" Hunter asked, almost eagerly. Shawn raised an eyebrow at him now.

"Woah, there. Down boy." Hunter now rolled his eyes. "Why so eager? You wanna get in her pants? Is that it? Or is she already a ring rat, am I missing something? Did I have some sort of drunken one night stand with her? Did you?" Shawn was already growing almost possessive, and he wasn't sure why.

"No, Shawn." Hunter sighed as though Shawn were being childish. Maybe he was.

"Are you saying you wouldn't?"

"I'm sure _you_ would, but I mean, you might be a married man soon." The barb was Hunter's way of trying to shut him up. Shawn frowned as he looked out the window, snorting under his breath—sometimes it worked.

"I'm not marrying Sunny." He grumbled under his breath. Sometimes it didn't.

"Anyways, I think you're forgetting not only is she Owen's baby sister, she's," Hunter sighed as though he were having trouble wrapping his head around the idea. "She's _Bret's_ baby sister. Stu Hart's _daughter_."

"Yeah, pretty sad that for such a _legendary_ family," Shawn jeered, wriggling his fingers. "She's out there being eye candy." Hunter was silent once again.

"Yeah. It is sad." They were both silent; Shawn didn't know what else was on Hunter's mind, but he didn't bother, now that the memory of Bret was brought up again. His impending return was coming sooner than Shawn liked, and it also likely meant his days as champ were numbered, just like Hannah had said. He'd be damned if he was gonna lay down for any Hart, certainly of all Bret.


	2. Chapter 2: Old Friends

"So is he or not?" Shawn snapped to Hunter as they headed towards the arena for TV tapings. Hunter threw his hands up momentarily from the wheel, shaking his head. Bret Hart had become too popular of a topic of conversation for Shawn's liking, but it was almost as if he couldn't stop himself from talking about it.

"We won't know for sure until we see him show up, Shawn, no matter what any dirtsheet says."

"Well, what'd Nash and Hall say?"

"Bischoff's been negotiating with him too, but Bret keeps going back and forth. Playing both of 'em, trying to get a better offer from both like he's some kind of prize. Nash said Bischoff offered something like $2.2 first, but then raised the deal. It's closer to $3 million now, for three to four years." Shawn's head nearly exploded.

" _What_?" Hunter parked the car, still shaking his head in annoyance.

"That's what he said. But Bret didn't accept that. So he either hasn't made a deal yet with either, or Vince outbid that."

"What the fucking hell. _More_ than $3 million?"

"It's ridiculous." Hunter muttered in agreement; he was nowhere close to even dreaming of that amount of money, and neither was Shawn. "It's getting thick, man; if WCW got their hands on Bret, or anyone else from over here, we're gonna be dead in the water real soon."

"I know it, brother." Shawn muttered, though the thought of Bret making such a great amount of money still had him fuming. "Motherfucker, I'll be damned…" He shook his head; Hunter sat silently beside him. The two of them, despite being as close as could be, had never discussed their salaries or any details of their contracts, unlike both Nash and Hall who had bragged freely to anyone and everyone about their new salaries. It wasn't that Shawn didn't want Hunter to know, but in reality, he had always felt ashamed, almost, of only making what he did, especially when he heard of Nash and Hall's new deals making considerably more than him, when he was the champion of the WWF. Especially now, knowing he only made what he did, and Bret would be making figures that blew his out of the water. And Shawn was the champion. The unavoidable fact made him realize even more so now just how little days as champion he had left.

In his irritation, he threw the door open roughly and shoved out of the car, Hunter following his lead, but at his own pace. Shawn didn't wait for him as he grabbed his bag and headed towards the arena.

"Where are you going?" Hunter called out from behind him, and Shawn almost didn't give him an answer.

"Take a fucking guess." He snapped over his shoulder, not caring if Hunter heard or if he was even following close behind. The sound of him sighing, however, let Shawn know he was at his heels.

"I thought you were just hiding from her the other day?" Hunter reminded him lowly as he sped up to match his pace. Shawn gritted his teeth.

"That was last week, now, it's a new week." He explained, purposefully allowing a condescending tone to color his words.

"You know what she's going to ask you, it's not like it's going to change." Shawn hated it when Hunter sounded logical, which was all the time.

"Yeah, and she can fucking wait and swallow the fact that I don't want to be tied down at 31, for fuck's sake. No way in _hell_ I'm marrying anyone right now or _anytime_ soon."

"So why are you going to her?"

"Because, Hunter!" Shawn snapped, stopping his quick pace to face Hunter, slapping his thigh. "I'm fucking pissed and all I want to do is fuck someone, is that okay with you?" Hunter stared back at him, not fazed in the slightest. He never was, nothing ever got to him.

"I'm just trying to look after ya, man. I want the best for ya." Shawn knew it. Hunter was his best friend, all he ever did was look out for Shawn.

"I do too, but I know what I'm doing, alright?" Hunter said nothing and they continued walking in silence until they headed their separate ways.

* * *

"I can't believe you just bought more overalls, don't you have enough?" Sunny asked as they headed to the women's locker room together. The lively woman had come to retrieve early that morning before the house show that evening to do some shopping, as promised. Hannah was given a million beauty and fashion tips for free.

Hannah shrugged. "Well, it's like you were saying. I want to be a little different than the rest of you…and they're comfy!" Sunny was already slipping out of her clothes to just her bra and panties to get ready for the show. Hannah looked around the empty locker room. "Where are the other girls?"

"Oh, I'm usually the only girl that works these house shows, I'm guessing Vince wanted you to get used to working and all that, and that's why you're here." Sunny began the process of putting on her makeup for the evening.

"It must have been odd, being the only woman here for so long." Hannah spoke up as she approached the mirrors, standing behind Sunny's image. Her eyes flickered over to Hannah in the mirror.

"God." She said before turning to face Hannah completely. "I've been here for a while, but I still feel like that same new girl. I guess, technically, that's you now." She turned away again to continue with her makeup. "But no, I've never felt _odd_. I think I fit right in, I think I'm more man than woman, but I guess I'm just enough." She giggled with the mascara wand in her hand.

"Hey, Sunny?"

"Hm, babe?" Hannah turned the chair around and straddled it, leaning her chin on her clasped hands.

"Didn't you ever…want to be in the ring yourself?" Sunny snorted, pausing to look at her.

"Ha! Are you kidding? No way, the only time I belong in that ring is shaking and strutting my stuff. I am perfectly satisfied from the sidelines, and you know, it isn't a bad place to be. You've got to understand your own power, trust me. If Vince likes you, soon those doors will be opening and you'll be doing so much more, even just as a valet." She gave her a reassuring smile. "You'll see." She said, tapping Hannah's nose.

"Yeah. I guess so." Hannah stood, digging through her bag to pick out an outfit for the night, putting other thoughts out of her head.

"Oh, shoot." Sunny suddenly said, stopping and turning to Hannah suddenly. "I forgot to mention, on these house show nights, Shawn and I usually hang out in here so…sorry! I'm gonna be kicking you out." Hannah only stared back, mildly panicking; she had been counting on using the women's locker room as a shelter to hide away from Paul. Or Hunter—whatever he was called now. She sighed, but smiled understandingly.

"That's okay," she mumbled. It isn't as if she wanted to be near Shawn again anyways. "I suppose I'll shower and get ready so I can get out of the way." Sunny beamed at her, and Hannah got to work on trying to figure out exactly where she was going to hide now.

* * *

Absently, as Shawn headed towards the women's dressing room, he still couldn't keep Bret from his mind. He wondered just how much Hannah knew, or if she knew anything. The only person who likely knew anything would be Owen, but he would never tell his brother's business. He huffed in frustration, hating how the thoughts were nearly eating him alive.

He let himself into the room without hesitation; tonight was just a house show, and Sunny was the only woman who ever worked them. Walking in, he couldn't find Sunny, but he could hear the steady stream of shower water coming from the showers. A soft voice was humming a song, and he finally allowed the lines of tension in his forehead to soften and a smirk grow on his lips. Just as he began to entertain the thought of stripping down himself and joining her, the water cut off. Shawn made sure he was hidden behind the jutting wall, and he grabbed hold of the hanging dry towel, a tight grip.

The hum had transitioned now to a full voice, singing unabashedly, and she sounded awful.

" _Any man of mine, better walk the line! Better show me a teasin', squeezin', pleasin' kinda time."_ Shawn found himself trying hard not to laugh, before realizing a second before she appeared—in all of her glory, unrestricted and painted in different golds, from her gleaming skin to her dripping hair—this voice wasn't Sunny's.

She paused, her back to Shawn as she reached for the towel, only for the towel not to come at her tug. His hand was still holding it in place. Her head turned in the direction of the towel and him, and he noticed the frown on her face first, his eyes traveling down to her plump lips that formed a gasp, and then he couldn't look anymore due to being blinded by a wild punch to his face.

"What are you _doing_ in here?" She yelled, her voice vibrating. Shawn shook his head and laughed as he turned back towards the woman, now covered with the towel and indignantly staring at him expectantly, knees bent and arms tight against her chest. He laughed again. " _Why_ are you laughing? Do you think this is funny? This is not a laughing matter!" She hadn't stopped yelling and if he were any closer he imagined she would punch him again. Or try to, anyways.

He couldn't even relish the sight he had just seen, what his ears had just heard, he was still too amazed to do anything but laugh. "You'd be laughing too if someone hit you with a punch that bad. That was the worst punch I've ever been hit with, and I've been on the receiving end for a quite a few."

"Your nose is bleeding." Hannah retorted indignantly and he wiped his forearm across his face.

"Yeah, and I wouldn't be surprised if your thumb is broken. Is your wrist sprained?" He eyed her right hand, the way it was held more gingerly than the other, and she shifted her weight, letting that arm fall to her side as if it didn't bother her.

"You shouldn't be in here, Sunny isn't in here." She explained in a rush, her eyes big and desperate. "She already told me you two use the locker room…" He wasn't expecting the wave of shame that hit him. "She left looking for you. I was just trying to shower before you came."

Shawn tried his best not to appear defensive as he shrugged it off.

"I'd be lying if I said I'm disappointed to see you instead." Hannah swallowed, a delicate blush coloring her cheeks before she shook her head vehemently.

"Look, Shawn…please" She winced; she had tried to wrap her towel tighter around herself using her hurt hand. "I just, really think it'd be best if you left."

"Hurts, huh?" He asked her, watching her lightly roll her wrist. She pressed on with a sternly desperate face.

"No, it's fine." Shawn raised an eyebrow. "Can't you just leave?" She practically begged now, almost stomping her foot. "Really, if Sunny barged in right now…" her breath caught in her throat as she looked him up and down. "I mean, if she saw us in here it would look bad. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Shawn shrugged uncaringly. "It's not like Sunny and I are dating."

"Really?" She shot back, unconvinced. "Because she said you two have been together for nearly a year. As a matter of fact, she said you were _the_ one." He snorted.

"Well, is that so? Listen, I do what I want, I call the shots. But, if you want me to leave, I'll leave, sweetheart." He turned on his heel, the bitter feeling of rejection creeping up on him again, just like the first time they had interacted. It was a sensation that felt too strong, since he had gotten used to its absence ever since he had found fame, and stung more now when this Hannah was involved.

"I have a name, you know, and it's not sweetheart." Shawn paused, smirking where he stood with his back to her.

"You know, you have a temper and tongue, I'll give you that. It's not a big one, but it's there. I seem to bring it out in ya too, don't I?" She blinked her eyes at him, now frowning and taking a step back to lean against the wall.

"I—I'm not trying to make enemies here. I just," she raised her chin. "I have a name. It's Hannah Hart." She said her name in pride, the way he tacked on WWF champion as if it were his last name. He chuckled a little at her smile, like the goody two shoes in a classroom.

"Right. Is that why they hired ya, or is it just because of the obvious?" Her smile crumbled.

" _Excuse_ me?" She demanded. "The obvious?" Shawn shrugged, looking over his shoulder.

"Well, as Hunter put it, just another blonde with boobs." Her mouth was fully agape after he spoke and he turned to head out the door. Outside in the hallway, he stood for a moment, realizing he didn't quite feel right even though he had been determined to get the last laugh. He gave out sharp comments left and right uncaringly, without a second thought, but the look of Hannah's hurt face was a lasting image in his head. He turned back and grabbed the door handle, only to start at a voice behind him.

"Shawn!" It was Sunny's shrill voice behind him, her heeled boots clicking on the ground as she hurried towards him. He turned, fixing a faux smile on his lips.

"I was just looking for you." He quickly said as she came up to him, smiling smugly at his words.

"I bet." She said, quickly attacking his lips with hers. "Do you like my dress? I went shopping today with Hannah. She's a little sweetheart," Sunny giggled a little. "You've met her, right?"

"Oh yeah, she's somethin' alright."

"Well, don't you be getting any ideas, buddy. I know she's a pretty little thing, but I like to think I'm prettier." She winked. "Of course, I'm not surprised that she's here. Bret talked about her a lot." Shawn raised his eyebrows; he must have missed those conversations. "He said Hannah was the only one in his family who didn't have to fall back on wrestling like the rest of them, that she was the one that was gonna turn out right." Sunny shrugged. "Guess not, but. Anyways, you remember the big deal they made about her during your Iron Man match." Shawn frowned now, staring down at Sunny.

"What do you mean?" Sunny smirked, kissing his lips. He pulled away impatiently.

"Of course, I'm the only blonde running around in your head." She giggled, and Shawn did his best not to snap out of impatience. "Vince and everyone made a big deal when the camera guy got a shot of her crying ringside during the match. And then again backstage—she was the first one Bret went to. It was cute to be fair." The door opened behind them, and Sunny made a hush face when Hannah came out.

Tonight, she was dressed in white overalls, shorter than the ones she had on the last time he had seen her, and almost in contrast, a pink sweater. Hannah didn't even look at him as she shook out her wet hair.

That's when he remembered the beautiful blonde he had seen sitting ringside, just like Sunny had described. After he won, he had walked over and shook Stu's hand, along with Bret's youngest son. And next to him was a blonde so beautiful he had assumed she must have been distantly related to the Harts. That's where he had seen her before. Her beauty then had been just as striking as it was now.

How could he have forgotten about the girl from WrestleMania?

"See ya later, Sunny." Hannah said to the blonde beside him, who beamed as she pulled Shawn closer to her. And then it hit him; this was why. It wasn't long after that title win he began to feel the pressure suffocating him, almost like Sunny's arms were now. He had ventured down that path, the path of angry solitude, and never looked back.

"See you, babe!" Sunny called, too close to his ear. Hannah smiled and continued walking, ignoring his presence too easily for his liking. The unsettledness he felt from before only worsened.

"Don't I get a hello?" He blurted out after her retreating figure, and she slowed her walk as she looked over her shoulder, a hint of disdain as she spoke insincerely.

"Hi, champ. Always a pleasure to see you."

"I have a name, you know." He smirked. Her returning smirk was more like a mocking scowl and he could see her shaking her head before she turned away, almost too quickly. Sunny used her pointer figure to guide his lingering gaze back to hers.

"Anyways, baby, you wanna know what I have planned for next week?" Her tone grew shriller, and he knew right away she wanted something—he'd bet his life that he knew what it was and struggled to keep himself from sighing, to keep his hands on her, to not frown in annoyance.

"Mmhm." He replied half-heartedly.

"Well, _I_ took it upon myself to book us a reservation at the nicest steakhouse in town. It's a _very_ nice place for new beginnings, _and_ celebrations. How does that sound?"

"Peachy, now, I gotta go get ready for my match." He said, dropping his arms from her.

"But the locker room just opened." She said in a tone dripping with temptation and wriggling her hips. She attacked his lips again and he pulled back quickly.

"I'll be back later." He lied, stepping around her to head to the locker room with no intent of keeping his word. On his way he shed his annoyance, knowing he could figure out a way to ditch the date as well, when that day came.

* * *

Hannah left the scene behind her, but the anger and hurt of Shawn's words stuck around.

She and Hunter went way back. If he thought that about her, did everyone else? For a moment, the thought made her skin prickle. Did the rest of the men think that about Sunny? About Sable and Marlena too? Her stomach almost churned, and the first thing that popped into her head was the clipart that was always on the women's locker room door. It made her stop walking completely for a moment.

Only for a moment, before she narrowed her eyes and set off to find the men's locker room, walking now with a determined purpose rather that lost like before.

She finally found it down a main hallway, and the sight of Owen just outside of it filled her with such a relief she realized maybe Owen was who she was wanting to see after-all. But not just yet.

"Woah—where's the fire?" He asked, frowning and trying to stop her as she marched past him to the door. He grabbed her arm and hung onto it, following her in confusion as she inspected the door. All it said was MEN'S LOCKER ROOM in thick bold font. She snorted. "Hannah, what are you doing? What's wrong?" Owen pulled her out of the way just as Vader came ambling out.

"I just wanted to see what kind of fancy little picture was on the door." She said, her arms crossing. Owen frowned.

"What?" She sighed. "Joey, I know this face of yours."

"You ever notice any difference between the labels on the men's locker room and the women's?" Owen only looked perplexed.

"I'm not usually near the women's dressing room—Joey, c'mon, what's this about?"

"There's a picture. It's just, heels and a hat—not even _just_ a hat, a feathered one—and a boa. But there's nothing on the men's." He was frowning and silent, and she sighed again, shrugging and feeling her shoulders slump. "I…just…the women here. I don't think the guys think too highly of them. I don't think anyone thinks highly of us at all, actually."

"Who told you that? Is there a guy around here picking on you?" Hannah shook her head quickly, and Owen didn't exactly look convinced.

"I'm talking just, generally, you know? And then, if the guys back here think low of me, what about the fans?" Owen now shook his head, raising a hand.

"Hannah, stop. Do you remember that little snot-nosed boy who kept throwing sand at you in grade school? Remember how I taught you a few holds and told you to tell him you're a Hart when he started crying?" Hannah giggled a little, and Owen smiled. "Nothing's changed. You're still the same, and if someone isn't showing you the respect you deserve, you need to remind them of who you are."

"So, you're saying I should put people in a chokehold. Because that worked so well the first time." She said, lighthearted now with Owen. There was no way she could go any more in depth on the subject, but at least Owen lifted her spirits. As he always did.

"You won't get detention now. If you tell me who's messing with you, I'll make 'em scream uncle." Owen pounding his fist together, and Hannah laughed. "And then, Davey will beat 'em to a pulp. And then you can come in and finish them off with a wham!" He grabbed her hand, trying to get a high five, but she winced. He frowned at her as she rolled her wrist out.

"I slipped in the shower." She lied, frowning as she remembered Shawn, and then Hunter, all over again. Owen raised an eyebrow.

"You were trying to moonwalk again, weren't you?" She chuckled, but the light moment from before was gone.

"Really, O, it's no one. I guess I'm just a little frustrated." He nodded slowly before his face lit up.

"Hey! I got an idea." He glanced behind him, before leaning in closer, trying to be inconspicuous. "Wanna help me pull a rib on Goldust?" She chuckled.

"I'd rather be a bystander than an accomplice." Owen smiled, nodding with his eyes narrowed.

"Touché. Probably for the better. Keep your eyes peeled, then. Davey and I are on second to last, so we'll be out later."

Hannah chuckled as he disappeared back into the locker room, still looking around behind his shoulders. As much as she appreciated the effort, tonight it was moot.

As she stood, rolling out her wrist, someone tapped her back and she turned, only to come face to, well, chest, of Hunter himself.

Hannah always imagined that when this moment came, she would be nervous. Maybe she would feel happy, but after Shawn's words, she felt none of that.

Neither of them spoke, and Hunter looked her up and down.

"…I didn't take you for much of a valet." He was always a straight-shooter. Hannah glared at him.

"Yeah, well, I didn't take you for an asshole." Hunter frowned, looking completely caught off guard.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He demanded defensively. She only rolled her eyes, still feeling the sting of Shawn's statement.

"You know, I thought we were friends, Paul." She retorted, trying to walk away only for him to grab her arm.

"Woah, woah, let me stop you there. I thought we were friends too. And friends don't lie about their identities, Hannah _Hart_." Hannah grew defensive; she was a mix of emotions, something between hurt and betrayed.

"Friends also don't label their friends as 'another blonde with boobs' either. Is that what you really thought of me all along?" The lines on Hunter's face straightened out immediately as she snatched her arm out of his grip.

"Hannah, no—wait!" She kept walking, not really knowing where she was going. "Hannah!" It was almost hard to ignore him, almost. Maybe Paul had changed; she wouldn't be shocked if he really was hanging around Shawn all the time. She scoffed to herself, stopping her walk and letting out a long sigh. She was barely getting started and already, she felt so overwhelmed. So conflicted, so lost.

"Ah, Hannah! Just who I was hoping to see!" Hannah turned with a confused frown at the sight of Vince, who really did appear relieved to see her. He smiled warmly at her. "Do you have a minute?"

* * *

At the locker room, Shawn shoved his way uncaringly into the locker room, passing Owen and Davey on their way out.

"You don't think he'll think it was you?"

"C'mon, Davey, it could've been anyone in here. Plus, we're leaving now, he won't even suspect us. We need to stop by the trainer's room to grab ice for Han too."

"Right. Hey, wait, how'd she hurt her wrist?"

"She said she slipped in the shower and caught herself." Owen was explaining and Shawn chuckled a little, but felt guilty immediately after. Davey shook his head.

Davey shook his head. "Women, they're just so fragile, mate. Imagine her in a ring."

"Has anyone ever told you that you look a lot smarter with your mouth shut?"

"Is it the glasses? They're new, I don't know if I like them but without them sometimes I can't read…" Shawn realized he wasn't the only one watching Owen and Davey leave the room. Hush-hush conversation started as soon as they disappeared.

"Is Bret coming back tonight?"

"Don't be an idiot; it's a house show and it's almost over, ya dope. He ain't coming back tonight."

"He ain't coming back, period. WCW's offering him a boatload."

"Bret's loyal. He's not leaving for no amount of money, he ain't no sell-out." Shawn whipped his head around to look at the jobber, the only kind of friends Bret seemed to attract, who was watching Shawn wide-eyed, as if he realized only too late what had been said.

"…You gotta think realistically; Bret's gotta family. He's thinking about them, just like Nash and Hall." Another wrestler quickly spoke up. Shawn snorted to himself and shook his head in disbelief; Bret was thinking about himself, the mark, just like always.

"Bret's got a family here too. He ain't just gonna leave Owen and Davey here."

"His little sister now too. What's her name?"

"Hannah. Sweet, sweet, baby Hart. She's like…she's like…you know when you're out walking and then you see some grass? The nicest most inviting strip of grass you've ever seen, but there's a sign right outside of it, and it says 'KEEP OFF'? She's like that."

"You idiot, you're not even making sense. She's got a sign alright, and his name is Bret. He'd have you screaming if he heard you talking right now."

"And he ain't, is he?"

Every man in the room was voicing their personal opinions, and it seemed like there were a lot of them. Shawn didn't pick out individual voices or care to put faces to them, but he heard them all, and they all pissed him off.

"Too bad she can't wrestle."

"Well, I can teach her a hold or two." Half the room laughed, the other half let out sounds of disagreements.

"Man, keep your trap shut. That's Stu Hart's daughter."

"Bet I could fuck her." Another voice spoke up, and more laughs sounded.

"Bet you couldn't, crusty ass." The boys laughed again, Shawn turned back around to look at all of them, their unimpressive selves.

"I'll bet you my next paycheck I can land her." This was one of the Smoking Gunns, so adamant, so confident, and Shawn realized out of all of the lousy load, he was the one with the best chance, though still pathetic.

"Oh yeah? I bet you I could land Sunny!" His partner added, and Shawn listened as the entire room laughed, his eyes flickering around at them and their conversation.

"You already have!" His partner laughed, and they shared a high-five.

"Well damn, who hasn't?" All the men were back to laughing together again, and Shawn glared, frowning to himself as conversation drifted back to Bret. He stood that way until someone grabbed his shoulder roughly.

"What the hell are you doing, man?" It was Hunter, and he was angry in contrast to his calm state earlier.

"What?" Shawn retorted, shrugging his shoulder away from his touch.

"Why did you tell Hannah I said she was just 'another blonde with boobs'?" Shawn rolled his eyes.

"Because that _is_ what you said."

"That was before I knew you were talking about Hannah! She's pissed off now at me because of what you told her!" Hunter followed hot at his heels as Shawn walked out of the locker room.

"Oh, cry me a river! That is what you said, isn't it?" Shawn stared at him accusingly. "Why are you so hot about it anyways? If you want to screw her, evidently there'll be a line." He glanced in disdain back towards the rest of the locker room.

Hunter groaned as he followed Shawn's gaze. "I heard them when I came in. I'm gonna have to keep an eye out." Shawn scoffed.

"Are you fucking kidding me, why is that your problem? Who cares?"

"She's a nice girl." He was avoiding Shawn's gaze.

"How would you know? Where did you meet her?" Hunter shrugged it off almost too dismissively.

"Backstage a few times. She's sweet."

"Yeah, well, she picked the wrong business to get into then." Hunter sighed.

"You hear anything else?" Hunter lowered his voice and changed the subject.

"A bunch of bullshit, nothing solid." Shawn sighed in frustration. Hunter nodded his head slowly.

"Well…we'll find out eventually. One way or another. I'll see you later." With that, Hunter left almost abruptly; usually he and Hunter stuck like glue backstage, well, when he wasn't stuck to Sunny. Shawn shrugged it off and went to get dressed.

* * *

Hannah adjusted herself in the too squeaky leather chair. Vince's office was similar to his business—tidy chaos. There were papers strewn across a surprisingly fancy mahogany desk, along with a very nice phone that Vince was moving to the center of the desk. Hannah watched him in confusion, until he sat down in his own chair, flashing her a smile. She quickly smiled back, not even daring to breathe in the too silent office.

"…Busy?" She blurted out, and only relaxed when Vince let out a laugh and sank back into his chair.

"You have no idea. As a matter of fact, I should be running tonight's show, but I left Pat in charge due to the more pressing matters at hand." She nodded slowly, adjusting her position in the chair again.

"Which is…?"

"Yes, I'm sure you're wondering what business could possibly be involving you." He laughed again. "Well, if I can be frank, your older brother is causing me quite the headache."

"I'm sorry…?"

"Relax, Hannah, you're not in trouble. Please, allow me to elaborate." Vince clasped his hands together in front of him. "As I'm sure you're fully aware, your brother and I have been trying to come to agreeable terms for some time now. However, recently, our negotiations have ceased and I learned he has been in contact with a…rival company." Hannah said nothing, however, wondered why Vince didn't just come out and say WCW. He turned his eyes to her now, and though they were pleasant, it was almost like a mask. There was something deeper there, almost something vindictive in his whole demeanor. "Have you heard any such thing about that?" She stared at him for a moment.

"Are you…trying to get dirt about my brother from me?" She asked, a small frown forming, before she realized she was speaking to her boss. Thankfully, he laughed.

"Heavens no. Hannah, I believe we're on the same page—I would be correct in assuming you want your brother back here too, yes?" Hannah nodded slowly. "I can't put my best offer out there if I don't know what I'm up against."

"Well, if you really wanted to know how stiff the competition was, you would ask Bret yourself. And if you can't because you're not currently speaking, I would be correct in assuming there's a reason for that?" Vince made a crooked smile, his lips pursing more.

"Correct." He allowed, but said nothing else.

"And would that reason be that Bret did in fact tell you about the offer he was made at WCW and you told him you couldn't match that?" Vince pursed his lips again and chuckled as he looked down at his hands.

"So you do know everything."

"Bret has discussed everything with us already. He was hurt when you told him you couldn't offer him any better."

"It's because I can't. That's the God honest truth, Hannah. I can't match Turner's pocketbook, and for as long as Bret has worked in the wrestling world, he does deserve proper compensation that perhaps he can't find here."

"Maybe there's a misunderstanding." Hannah murmured, leaning forward. "Vince, if I can speak for Bret, I think when he says a better offer, he means the best offer _you_ can make him. He doesn't want to leave the place where he started. I know my entire family has the utmost respect for you, especially Bret. I even think he would be fine with less money as long as he knew he was being appreciated, and his worth was recognized in the best way you can." Vince now sat back, clasping his hands.

"He's expressed this?"

"More or less." Vince nodded for a moment, the wheels in his head turning.

"I'm just not certain if Bret can have a better deal here in the WWF in the long run. Compared what he could be making, staying here would be grim." He mumbled, and she could tell battle was slipping.

"Vince, I may be certainly biased, but I know it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Bret is one of your most valuable assets in this Federation. I remember my brother wrestling sick, wrestling on holidays, wrestling with broken bones, because that's what he would do for you. He can put on a good match with anyone and his name on any card instantly gives people a reason to want to tune in. Not to mention, the global impact he has." Finally, Vince smiled at her.

"You make a fantastic point, Hannah, you do. However, even if I wanted to try and rehash things with your brother, I need to know firstly that he's open to doing so." He placed a hand on the telephone sitting in front of him. "Would you be willingly to maybe give him a call?" Hannah blinked.

"And…pretend you're not in the room and that you didn't ask me to?" Vince laughed again.

"Hannah, I like your forwardness and I appreciate it. You can tell him everything we've discussed, and perhaps throw in a good word that I'm willing to be more open-minded going in this time. I'll step out into the hallway to give you some privacy." Vince stood, and she supposed she didn't have a choice after all.

She took a breath and picked the phone off the hook, dialing in the number to Bret's home. It rang a few times before he answered.

" _Vince, I don't know why you keep calling when you've already told me I'd be better off taking the other deal. What more is there to say?_ " Bret snapped grumpily into the receiver.

"Wait, no." Hannah spoke. "Bret, it's me. Hannah."

" _Johannah? Why are you calling me from Vince's phone?_ " Bret sounded confused.

"Well, long story short, Vince pulled me into his office and asked me about you."

" _About me? He's stooping to a new low now, trying to dig for dirt from you. What did you say?_ "

"I think I surprised him, actually. I don't think he actually thought I knew everything."

" _He's never understood how close of a family we are._ "

"I told him we knew everything already, and Bret, maybe there's just a misunderstanding here…If it came down to it, would you mind making less if it meant you could stay here?" Bret was silent for a long moment.

" _It would depend on how much less we're talkin'._ "

"Say, a little less give or take, but more time? A longer career, guaranteed? Maybe that way, later down the road, Vince could sorta compensate you for your time and loyalty."

" _Maybe I'd consider it yeah, but it doesn't matter. All he says is that he can't match it, I'm better off leaving. Why does he have you calling now, is he feeding you theses lines? Did he actually change his mind?_ "

"He asked me to call, but he stepped out. I told him I would talk to you because I think it's obvious everyone wants you here. No one wants you to go to WCW, Bret." Hannah swallowed. "Bret, I remember when I was younger and you were wrestling for Stampede, and then Owen going off to Japan…I remember being so jealous. I didn't think I could get any more jealous, but I did. When you and Owen were in the WWF together, with Davey and Dynamite Kid too, and you all got to be together. Now, I mean, there's a chance for us to all be together. And you belong here, Bret. This Fed would be nothing without you."

" _Jo, you know I want to be there. That's what I want more than anything. So when Vince told me to go..._ "

"He said he wants to try and rehash things. And he also said he would be more open-minded this time around."

" _Alright, well, if this is what he wants to do, we'll do it. Tell him that's fine, I would be willing to do the same. But he has to come to me, here._ " Hannah smiled.

"Okay. I will. Are you doing okay?"

" _Things are going. I just put Blade to bed and he's back up again._ " Hannah giggled. " _He told me to tell you he loves you."_ Hannah smiled, laughing.

"Tell him I love him more!"

" _He said you're his favorite now—what? Oh, besides Shawn. He says that doesn't count because you're not a wrestler_." Hannah tried her best not to get too crestfallen. " _I let him stay up just to watch you the other night._ _How has the road been?_ "

"Going. There's…always something going on."

" _I feel like that's a summary. A short one._ "

"I'll tell you more when we come back home. Or the next time I see you, whichever. Hopefully, you'll be jumping back in with us soon. I miss you."

" _I miss you too, Jo. Take care of yourself, alright_?"

They said their goodbyes, and Hannah let Vince back into his office, only to find him speaking to Hunter.

"Well, I've offered you many suggestions, but you don't seem to agree with any of them."

"I just want to be different, Vince, something to set me apart. Every manager you've suggested for me, that's already been done before." Vince threw his hands up.

"Well, this discussion clearly needs more allotted time that we're given today, you're gonna have to call me and we'll knock our heads together. But not until I deal with this Bret Hart situation." Vince turned his attention back to Hannah with an expectant smile, and she tried her best not to look at Hunter as Vince closed the door behind them. He stood where he had been standing, staring her dead in the eye.

"Did you make any process?" Vince asked eagerly before they could sit down again.

"He's willing to meet." Hannah told him. "But only if you're willing to fly down to Calgary to his home." Vince sighed.

"Well, I suppose that isn't the worst request. And I suppose he is worth it, right?" Hannah smiled.

"Right. He is."

"Very well, then. I suppose we'll see what unfolds now."

Hannah left Vince's office just when it no longer felt intimidating and was only half-surprised to see Hunter still there, leaning against the wall. He straightened up when he saw her, and she didn't move right away, wondering if it were too late to just walk.

"You're going to make me say it first, aren't you?" He finally spoke up, after they had spent the time staring at each other stubbornly. She still said nothing, to which he snorted. "It's nice to see you haven't changed."

"As a matter of fact, I haven't, Paul—or Hunter—whatever your name is now. It's been four years. Maybe you've changed, maybe actually being here did it or maybe it's because you're friends with Shawn, I don't know. But it's fine, okay? Sometimes friendships don't last." He grew almost amused now as he looked at her, a half-smirk on his face.

"Don't act like you don't have anything to apologize for. You were the first friend I ever made in this business, and then you just leave out of nowhere and I never hear from ya again? You never even told me who you really were. But, I'll go first, and you know I mean it because I wouldn't be sayin' it if I didn't. I'm sorry, alright? What happened was Shawn mentioned they hired a new blonde and I figured it was just another woman with fake tits, like Sable. Had I known they hired you specifically, I would've reacted differently."

Hannah sighed, and crossed her arms and Hunter made a face at her.

"Look, all I feel around here is…misunderstood and I was really hoping I had a friend in you. I need a friend around here, all I have is Owen and Davey and the girls."

"That's more than some people have. Shawn's only friend is me." She rolled her eyes.

"I wonder why. My brother and Davey don't count, and neither do the girls. None of them know me like you do. I didn't want you to treat me differently just because I was a Hart—that's why I didn't tell you. I had a good reason…But I'm sorry I didn't tell you." He nodded slowly.

"Well stop crying about it. We are friends." He hit her shoulder.

"…Good. I've missed you." She finally replied, with a smile and opened her arms. He gave her a hug, the first real one they had shared since 1992. As he pulled back, he was serious.

"Can I just ask why you left?"

"I…I had to." Hannah replied after she sighed, looking behind them for any approaching wrestlers.

"Had to? What the hell do you mean?" It was a sore subject she didn't exactly want to dive into, but she knew she was going to have to.

"Look, I can explain it all, alright? But after I do, maybe you could help me out?" She stood, pleading up towards Hunter. He remained unreadable.

"Help? Help you with what?" He asked.

"I'll explain, I promise. Just...please? She raised her eyebrows, clenching her hands together in a ball. "Please?" He let out a long breath of air.

"Fine. Alright, alright. Now why don't you tell me everything from the beginning."

Suddenly, the door to the men's locker room slammed open down the hall. Goldust came out, limping. "Who the _hell_ put an egg in my boot?" He bellowed. Hunter was perplexed, but Hannah laughed outright, wondering how she could go through so many lows and highs in one night. Perhaps that's just what was to be expected, in the world of wrestling.


	3. Chapter 3: Harsh Realities

Another day, another TV taping. TV was fun, but the house shows seemed almost better. There was more of a chance to interact with fans, and Hannah watched in intrigue as wrestlers got more creative, had more fun, and put on such gems of matches she was shocked they weren't going to be televised.

It was also odd when she realized more and more people were beginning to recognize her as the weeks went by. Pat had told her when she arrived at the arena people from the WWF were going to be contacting her soon for an interview, and that was exciting, but again, it still left more to be desired.

Above all, Hannah was amazed by how very juvenile the WWF was. Of course, with her heritage, she knew how dramatic the business was, how people spread ill words of one another and how most of it was never true. And then there were the dirtsheets too, along with the wrestling forums online, but hearing the rabid talk running rampant backstage? It was new. It left her wide-eyed; the amount of rumors flying backstage was appalling.

"Sable has a daughter, did you know that?" The TV make-up artist told her as she dusted Hannah's face one night. "I heard she was a dancer living in a trailer park before she met Mero. Not surprising, huh. Apparently, she's Vince's favorite. I heard she did a private show, just for him."

"Shawn is a fucking gay prick. The only reason he has that strap is because he's really Vince's boy toy." The large and intimidating Henry Godwinn felt the need to share with Hannah as she waited for Owen and Davey to come out of the locker room.

His tag partner Phineas chimed in. "Patterson too. He _loves_ Shawn."

It was almost uncomfortable; wrestlers and workers alike would share the latest rumors without caring if it were malicious or not, or if she even wanted to hear it. Again, she was left wondering what was said about her.

"Everyone is so childish around here. It's like high school." Hannah mumbled to Sable as the two women prepared for TV that night. It was just the two of them so far, Sunny and Marlena weren't yet around.

"How so?" Sable asked, her hair voluptuous and bouncing as she turned to look at Hannah over her shoulder. "Everybody's screwing everybody else and all the guys have big egos?"

"No. Well. Yes, but the rumors. Aren't there more important things to worry about? I mean if they focused on putting more into their ring performance maybe they wouldn't have to keep complaining about the people who actually have the title."

"You would think." Sable replied thickly in agreement. "Funny how all the men constantly look down on us women, but in reality, they're the ones who act more like little girls than we do. They don't understand that as women it isn't wrong of us to use our sexuality as an asset and it sure as hell doesn't mean they can treat us any lesser for it." Hannah could tell she felt strongly for the subject, something she hadn't known before.

"I didn't know you had a daughter." Hannah murmured quietly, bringing up something else she didn't know before. However, she seemed to take her the wrong way.

"You wouldn't think so, huh?" Sable seemed to retort, eyeing Hannah in the mirror.

"Not that it's a bad thing it's just—" Sable zipped her bag harshly, the sound of it cutting through the air harshly, and Hannah was afraid the blonde had decided to leave. Quickly, she kept speaking. "I found out from a rumor. I don't know what all you know about me, or if it's even true or not, but I know I would want you to know me from things I tell you, not someone else." Sable finally looked at her, marching straight up to her.

"Well, let's just be clear: just because I'm a mother doesn't mean I have to 'watch the way I act' or change anything about the way I do things."

"Of course—I would never say that. I just want to be friends. When I hear rumors, I want to be able to say 'that's not true' and know for a fact." Sable was silent for a moment as the two stood eye to eye in silence. Truthfully, Hannah appreciated the three women she found herself working with and what they all brought to the table; Sunny was fun and spontaneous, she reminded Hannah they were young and to have fun with it, and Marlena was bubbly and charming, but Sable…Sable was different. She was steady and confident, and with her presence came an assured peace and steady defiance to be unapologetically feminine. It fascinated Hannah, and it made her wonder if she would have that self-assuredness when she got older too.

Finally, the blonde vixen smiled and leaned closer to kiss her cheek, her hand resting on Hannah's back.

"You're a doll. Sorry for jumping on you, it's just hard when all I hear is everyone talking behind my back. I know what they say. But that means a lot to me."

"How old is she?" Hannah asked gently as she took a seat. Sable sat beside her, looking more open again.

"She's turning eight soon. Everyone says she looks just like me, and she's already a handful." Hannah giggled, and Sable giggled with her, suddenly smiling fondly and grabbing Hannah's hand. "You know, we should have lunch sometime, or dinner after the show. If you want, I know you and Owen and Davey eat together, and I think that's really great. Marc and I have our own little routine too."

Hannah smiled eagerly, wanting to set up a meeting right away, but not sure where she could ever find that time, now that she spent all her free time with Hunter.

"I'd love to, we definitely should." Sable stood with a smile, going to dress in her vinyl outfit for the evening. "Um, Sable? Can I ask you something, actually?"

"Yeah, of course, go ahead." Hannah had multiple questions she mulled over in her head that she wanted answers to sooner rather than later, but she picked one.

"…What does everyone say about me around here? What are the rumors about me?" Sable blinked at her, before shrugging lightly.

"I've never heard anything bad. A lot of people knew of you before you even got here, because of Bret and Owen; especially Bret. He talked about you all the time, it was adorable. Did you know he even had a picture of you two in his wallet?" Hannah smiled in relief, feeling her heart fill.

"No." She giggled. "What did he say about me to everyone then?"

"He talked about you like you were a gem, honey. He always sounded really proud of you. Owen too—he'd ask me and Marlena about our little ones and mention how good you were with his kids and how much of a help you were to his wife." Hannah's smile remained.

"It's a little odd, being the youngest. And by young, I mean by a big margin. Owen and I not so much, but Bret's a lot older…he was like my hero." Sable smiled at her as she zipped up her suit.

"He said that too." Hannah stared into the mirror thoughtfully.

"So you mean…the guys back here…they don't look at me that way?" Her question sounded hopeful, which she realized as Sable gave her a look, a pointed one full of a sad solemn truth.

"Oh, honey. Tell me, what do you think?" Hannah sighed softly at that, looking down.

* * *

Shawn hastily unbuckled his seatbelt and threw the door of the Smoking Gunn's rental car open, grumbling under his breath as he yanked his bag out before slamming the door shut.

"If you ever need another ride again, just let us know." He heard one of them call—he still didn't know which was which—and he laughed outright, full of sarcasm as he stomped towards the building. The only thing he had on his mind was giving Hunter a piece of it.

"Who does he think he is now…ditching me…I made him. He owes me—what, he thinks he can just replace me?" He ranted under his breath as he avoided eye contact with everyone else.

It started happening out of nowhere. Everything was going like normal on this particular route of shows they were doing, until Hunter just started disappearing. Gone all day, from morning until it was time to be at the arena, leaving Shawn to find his own ride while Hunter took the rental. Sometimes he would disappear after shows instead and show up at their room late. It didn't stop there, once they were at the arenas, Hunter was gone the entire time then too. With who? Hannah Hart, of course. And there she was, never paying Shawn any mind, no matter what he did. It was poignant jealous, caused by multiple reasons.

It was the first time in a long time Shawn had gotten a taste of being all alone, what with him avoiding Sunny as of late, and he hated it. Worst of all, he hated that it was Hunter who was the one abandoning him.

Shawn was never one to just sit back and let life happen, he couldn't just sit still. And just as he was trying to decide who he was going to go to first, fate figured it out for him when he rounded the corner and ran straight into someone. He laughed thickly as he realized it was Hannah herself. She stared up at him with wide eyes that narrowed when she realized it was him.

"Are you gonna say excuse me?" She asked calmly. He smirked down at her.

"Are you gonna make me?" He looked her up and down, noting her pink, purple, and blue windbreaker and jeans that seemed to swallow her entirely. It was almost uncanny just how much she looked like someone's little sister, something so…innocent.

"Why do you act like you own everything, including the hallways?" She demanded.

"I'm your WWF champion, I can act how I want." He raised his chin and she rolled her eyes.

"What are you gonna do when you lose that title and you can't use it as a crutch anymore?"

"And who exactly will I be losing it to?" He challenged, smirking at her. Her look of disdain did not waver as she shrugged past him.

"Someone who actually deserves it." Hannah didn't look back, even though a part of him wanted her to. A bigger part of him could feel his heart ignited, defiantly fuming and catching momentum, rising in his chest. He took a step towards her, only to be pulled back by a firm hand.

"You gonna go pick on a girl?" Hunter was shaking his head at him. "What's your deal, you look like your panties are in a wad."

"Wouldn't you like to know, jackass; you left me at the hotel!" He shoved his finger against Hunter's chest. "If you don't want to travel together anymore, that's fine! Just let me know—I'm perfectly fine with traveling alone, believe me. It'll leave you more time to spend with the new kid in town." Hunter raised an eyebrow, and Shawn resisted the urge to punch him in the jaw and knock the gum he was perpetually chewing out of his mouth.

"Is someone getting jealous? Realizing I'm your only friend around here?" He asked as he crossed his arms, smirking in amusement. Shawn made a face at him, poking his finger at his chest again because he knew it made him mad.

"Don't forget who got you this far; _I_ don't need friends." Triple H's smirk faltered and he narrowed his eyes.

"Oh lighten up, smartass. Any other time you're too busy fucking Sunny and now you want to get pissed because I'm not driving you to the arena?" Shawn glared.

"I have your back and you have mine! I'm trying to avoid her—" Hunter threw his hands up in the air, but Shawn kept going. "And you weren't around to help me out! I had to hitch a ride from some fucking jobbers, I'm the WWF champion!" Hunter rolled his eyes.

"Oh _no_ , not the _jobbers_. If I recall correctly, I was telling you to avoid her a week ago but you didn't want to listen then and bit my head off. And for the record, I'm not going to be at your beck and call, Shawn. Being your friend doesn't mean I'm your butler."

"No, it means you have my back! I've always had your back, right or wrong?" He waited for Hunter to nod. "So do you have mine or not?" Hunter was already walking away, forcing Shawn to follow in behind him.

"Will you cut it out already, drama queen? Of course I have your back. Now, you notice who's still not here?" For the moment, Shawn's irritation momentarily subsided.

"Bret."

"Exactly. But, apparently Vince has been going out of his way to meet with Bret on his terms, and he's planning on signing a contract in a couple of weeks. And you know the real kicker? Vince upped his offer." And that was it—Shawn's anger was back with a wrathful vengeance.

"What? Are you fucking kidding me? All that shit he spouts constantly about being financially unstable but he has money laying around to throw at Bret fucking Hart?" He yelled, watching Hunter look around for others but not caring if anyone heard. He paced the hallway, feeling his blood pounding. "And who told you this?" Shawn stopped his pacing in front of Hunter.

"Does it really matter?" Shawn nearly cricked his neck leaning closer incredulously.

"What, you're not gonna fucking tell me?" He asked, feeling his anger returning and their momentarily united front fading. "Why? Who the fuck—"

"You wouldn't believe me anyways." Hunter replied calmly. Shawn scoffed.

"Try me." Hunter stared at Shawn with a look he'd seen many times before—patience wearing thin but never quite reaching the end. But he indulged him—he always did.

"Hannah." He replied, the corners of his mouth upturning as he waited for Shawn's reply. He blinked at him.

"Oh, c'mon." Hunter raised his eyebrows. "Oh, give me a fucking break, Hunter."

"I told you." Hunter replied calmly. Shawn huffed.

"And what makes you think she even knows what she's talking about?'

"Why wouldn't she? She is his sister." Shawn couldn't come up with a reply. "Hannah isn't who you think she is, Shawn."

"Oh? And what is she supposed to be, exactly?"

"What are you sayin'?"

"Well, what I'm sayin' is you've been spending this entire week with her, doing what, huh? Not fucking playing checkers, that's for sure." Hunter snorted, and Shawn almost felt relieved at that.

"It ain't like that, man."

"Oh really? So why not answer the question then. Where have you been running off to every day with Miss Hart?" Hunter smirked.

"Why do you sound so jealous? Is it because for the first time, a woman isn't falling over herself for you?" Now Shawn glared, sputtering a string of incoherent words that normally would've been an arrogant retort. "Or…is it because you have a little crush on her, and she isn't interested in you on top of it?" Hunter laughed as Shawn glared venomously.

"I'll have you know—"

"Let me stop you there. If you really want to know what we've been doing, you can find out for yourself. You can even ask her about Bret, maybe find out when to expect him. I bet Vince promised him that title of yours too." Shawn gritted his teeth.

"I always get the last laugh, you know that, Hunter. I always call the shots." Hunter shrugged.

"Maybe. I'm meeting Hannah tomorrow morning, at the Gold's Gym by the hotel. You can come if you want for all I care." Shawn watched Hunter stroll away towards the locker room. He grumbled under his breath before he picked up his bag and followed after him.

* * *

"Where were you this morning? We missed you at breakfast." Owen asked Hannah as they watched Davey doing squats in the hallway. She and Owen were sitting on the crates, a bag of beef jerky between them.

"Oh, I went to get a pedicure with Sable." Hannah replied easily. Owen smiled at her as tore a piece of jerky with his teeth.

"Sleepovers, traveling together, breakfast dates…you're making fast friends. It's not so bad anymore, huh?" Hannah smiled, though didn't bother telling Owen what she was really thinking.

"The girls are really great. And like I said, I'm glad I get to spend some time with you guys." Davey finished his mini workout and turned to them with a grin.

"Ay, try and throw a piece into my mouth." Hannah laughed as he opened his mouth wide. Owen jerked the bag from her hands.

"Do you know how much I paid for this? Come grab some yourself, you lazy oaf." Davey did, jerking the bag away from Owen.

"I'm glad you're here with us now, Hannah. So I don't have to be alone with him anymore." Owen stole the bag back. "Plus you put in all that work, carrying our bags and driving us around..." Davey said as he chewed. "Oh wait, I just have another bag to carry with my own."

"And I still drive," Owen pointed out.

"While you sleep in the backseat, like a princess." Hannah shrugged.

"You take the bags from me every time I try, Davey." She turned to Owen accusingly. "And _you_ never let me drive ever, even at home."

"I'd like to make it to where I'm going alive, thanks." She scoffed.

"Well then, your reward is the pleasure of my company." Davy mussed her hair, and she wouldn't have fought him on it if it weren't for the fact that he was just so rough. Owen laughed at her hair and mussed it more after he stood.

"It'll be nice to sleep in tomorrow morning, I've been looking forward to it all week." Hannah chuckled a little nervously.

"Yeah…really nice." She murmured, knowing full and well she had no intention of sleeping in.

* * *

Walking into the Gold's Gym Hunter had told Shawn he would be at didn't really answer any questions he had. Maybe, Hunter had to squeeze in a workout and Hannah was just watching. He walked through the front of it towards the back, where they kept the ring, to find the room empty. And in the middle of the ring he found Hunter, dressed in loose athletic clothes, and Hannah.

She was wearing a pink crop top and baggy workout pants, her blonde hair tied up in a perky ponytail and her bare midsection gleaming. They were locked in a grapple, with Hunter instructing her on the proper way to reverse it.

Shawn stood watching them for a minute, watching her nod eagerly every so often, before laughter began to squeeze between his lips. They both turned their heads and noticed him, but he didn't stop laughing. Through half-squinted eyes, Shawn could see Hannah sending Hunter a look. Then he heard Hunter clear his throat. Shawn stopped laughing a moment later.

"Oh…Oh man. Sorry, it's just—" He broke into another small fit of laughter. "What is this, did you win a contest, Hannah? Is this open class? Hunter, if you were in need of some extra cash there's a million things you could've done before—"

"Shawn," Hunter broke away from Hannah and leaned against the ropes towards him, a warning on his face. Hannah had her arms crossed, her eyebrows furrowed. "Cut it out. This is serious, I'm helping her out in the ring."

"Helping her out." Shawn laughed; it sounded like a punchline.

"Yeah. Seriously. She's training." Shawn snorted and cleared his throat.

"Right. Right. Okay, yeah. Sure, of course." Shawn climbed up to sit on the apron, grinning. "Well, by all means, please don't let me interrupt." He waved his hands, gesturing for them to go on. It almost felt like a skit. Hannah set him a skittish look before looking back to Hunter, who just gave her a shake of his head and waved his hand off. "Yeah, just ignore me. I'm just a guest. I never get invited anyways, so." This time Hunter sent him a look, before they carried on like before.

Soon though, Shawn grew bored. Hunter was like an encyclopedia, rattling off names of holds and demonstrating them. But it was like watching a football team continuously set up and get ready to go, only to break and then do it again. There was no action.

"…for instance, with something like your brother's sharpshooter, you would want to do something like this to lead into it…"

"Yeah, Hannah. Your brother. Bret." Shawn spoke up from where he was laying now on the apron, swinging his leg for amusement. "How is he?" He looked up towards her, seeing her wary look.

"Fine, I suppose." She replied curtly, as if she didn't want to answer at all. Shawn sat up.

"Fine, huh? Not under the weather at all, I see. Is he...getting that itch again? To come back?" Hannah and Hunter stopped what they were doing, with Hannah's wariness seemingly increasing.

"Doesn't every wrestler?"

"Perhaps, yeah. Sometimes, though, the itch is stronger for some people, given certain variables. I'm sure it's certainly very enticing for someone like Bret, what with both WCW and the WWF vying for him. Isn't it?" Hannah only blinked at him. "Well? Did he sign a contract?"

"Shawn." Hunter spoke up, shaking his head firmly. Shawn ignored him, prompting his gaze at Hannah.

"I don't know, that sounds like a question for Bret. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not Bret. And I'm not here to talk about him."

"That's not what Hunter said."

"Shawn!" Hunter snapped.

"In fact, he mentioned you'd be more than happy to talk about your big brother." Hunter let out an exasperated breath, shaking his head and walking to the opposite turnbuckle. Hannah was now eyeing Shawn coldly. "Aren't you two close? Hasn't he told you how happy he is that you're on the road with the family now, how he can't wait to come back to join you all, how fucking ecstatic he is to be making millions of dollars?" Hannah looked first at Hunter, who only looked straight ahead with a furrowed forehead, past both Shawn and Hannah, before she turned her gaze back to Shawn.

"First of all, Shawn, I'm not sure why you seem so hot and bothered by Bret. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were awfully threatened by the fact that he's coming back and most likely taking that title from you. Secondly, I don't care to hear you deny it, and how you're the champ, and how you don't care about Bret, because you clearly do. But I don't, okay? I'm here trying to learn something, I didn't ask you to come here."

"Yeah, and what exactly is that, honey? That you're trying to learn?" Her expression didn't change, but he saw her swallow hard.

"I'm learning to wrestle." She replied, but her voice suddenly sounded smaller. Shawn snorted.

"Right. Right—and why in the hell are you doing that again? I'm still as lost as when I first came in here. What's the point in all of this, really?" Now, Hunter was staring at him, both he and Hannah with hostile stares.

"Shawn," Hunter said again, for the third time and this time with the most warning. It only added fuel to the fire.

"Oh, what? C'mon, don't make me out to be the jerk here!" Shawn protested when Hunter only gave him that hard disapproving stare he had come to know so well. He decided to turn back to Hannah. "Tell me something genuinely, sweetheart, why do you think you were hired? What did Vince tell ya, did he tell you the truth? Do you know what's really on his agenda?"

"What makes you think I care what you have to say?" She retorted.

"Oh, honey. You act like I'm the only one, like I'm the villain here." Shawn climbed into the ring, up closer to Hannah, and up so close he could see that fire fading out real fast. "This entire industry—Vince McMahon included—all believe women are only good for one thing. Sex sells, haven't you heard? He doesn't have any plans for you to be out in that ring; you're just eye candy decorating the outside. Remind me what you were doing on last week's RAW?" She only glared at him bitterly, her arms crossed tightly to her body. "Oh! That's right, you were on the hotline with good ole JR. You know the Slammy's are coming up, and in no time Vince will have you out there competing in a bikini contest with the rest of the women, so you should start looking for a skimpy bikini sometime soon. I don't know what you thought you'd be doing here? Okay, but sweetheart, you're not a wrestler. You're not one of the boys, you're here for them. You're in a man's world."

Somewhere in the middle of his promo, Hannah had started looking down at her tennis shoes, but he had barely noticed. The silence between them was cutting now, much too loud now to be interrupted again, especially when he heard the sound of a soft sniffle, one that made Hannah's chest give a slight jerk. He barely had time to register what was happening when she finally moved from her place towards the ropes. As she pushed roughly passed him, he could see glistening trails down her cheeks, fallen from hurt eyes. Instantly, he lost his fire.

"Hey—"

"No, leave me alone." Her voice shook and she kept walking without looking back. Shawn only stared after her, feeling like something close to trash.

"Do you feel better now?" Hunter asked, and Shawn turned back to him to see him sending a stern look before he shook his head and climbed out of the ring. Shawn shrugged defensively, moving to climb out of the ring as well.

"Someone had to tell her." Hunter turned back, mouth open to speak, before he decided against it and shut it again and shook his head, turning back around.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all?" He finally said. "So what, she has a dream and that makes her wrong?"

"What dream?" Shawn asked incredulously. "You're really trying to tell me she wants to wrestle?" Hunter stared back at him, deadpanned.

"Grow up," he told him before he turned on his heel and walked away.

"Oh, what c'mon! I'm a bad guy now for breaking it to her?" He was defensive again. Hunter continued to ignore him as he walked away and Shawn could only stare after him. "You've got to be kidding me."

* * *

The next time he saw Hannah, she was alone backstage, ready to go out to the ring. Missing in action were her trademark cutoff overalls. In their place were loosely fitting high-waisted white jeans and a pink button up tucked in and fitted with a black belt. It was a much more conservative appearance. As he got closer, he tried to figure out the best way to approach her, but realized it didn't matter when she looked up and instantly grimaced. Gone was the deflated crying little girl, before him stared smoldering embers fully ablaze again.

"Good afternoon, Miss Hart." He greeted her, doing his best to ignore her furious stare. "So, how are you adjusting around here, are you getting used to the traveling? Flying is a headache and driving is cramped, sometimes these arenas are confusing—come to think of it, has anyone bothered to show you around? Have you been to catering yet, are you thirsty? Do you need—"

"What do you think you're doing?" She demanded with her arms crossed, finally cutting him off.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He demanded. " _Excuse_ me, I'm trying to be nice. I don't think we've gotten off on the right foot." Her glare never wavered.

"I would say that's an understatement."

"Ah, what do we have here? Just the people I wanted to see!" Both Shawn and Hannah were caught off guard at the sight of Vince rounding the corner and stopping in a pleasant surprise. Hannah perked up considerably, as though she were being rescued.

"Hey, Vin-Man." Shawn muttered breezily as they exchanged a quick hug. Vince then turned to Hannah with an arm extended and squeezed her as well.

"Good evening, sir, how have you been?" She asked, sounding polished and polite. Shawn chuckled in amusement.

"Ah, look at little miss goody two shoes here." Shawn said, laughing again as he elbowed Vince. She sent him a glare that Vince didn't see, reminding him of a child who would stick their tongue out when their parents turned their back.

"I'm doing well, thank you for asking. Liking our world around here so far?" Vince appeared to be oblivious to any tension surrounding them.

"Oh, yes. Absolutely. It's been a dream." He was also oblivious to the false words; Shawn knew otherwise.

"Well, we are the only wrestling federation with The Heartbreak Kid!" Vince laughed as he patted Shawn's shoulder and Shawn grinned at her, watching her lips form a mechanical smile and her eyes still smolder.

"Yes, we would just be so lost without him." Her words were an insult veiled by sarcasm Vince didn't catch.

"Without your brother as well, and I wanted to thank you first, Hannah. Having you here to help liaison with Bret has made my life much easier." Shawn's face fell instantly and it was Hannah's turn to rub it in, and she did so now with a smug smile of her own. "I'm confident we'll reach an agreement soon. Nonetheless, it's still been quite the rollercoaster, a rocky one. But I suppose this isn't the place to discuss this." He laughed a bit after he glanced at Shawn, and the mere action only got him even more heated. Hannah laughed, and she might as well have pointed a finger at Shawn and mocked him outright. "Lets get to business, then, yes?"

"Let's." Hannah agreed with a smile. "Is there something I can do for you?" Shawn crossed his arms with a huff, rolling his eyes behind Vince's back.

"That there is. I know I promised your family you would only be doing strictly managerial duties. However, I trust I can depend on you if I load on a bit to your burdens and give you a bit more responsibilities?" Shawn watched as everything else seemed to disappear to Hannah. All at once the fiery glare melted away into wide exhilarated eyes, and she lit up like a lightbulb.

"Oh, yes, of course, Vince! Anything!" He laughed good-naturedly.

"Excellent! I love the enthusiasm. Well, as you know, we've been trying to boost ticket sales, and I wanted a few choice members to tape some regional commercials, such as yourself, Shawn of course, perhaps Mero, and maybe…Savio Vega. I had Sunny in mind originally, but she's booked with meet and greets and you'd be helping me greatly if you could do so."

"…Of course, Vince." And just like that, he watched her blatantly deflate, as if someone let the air out of her. He almost found himself pitying her; he knew exactly where her mind had been heading.

"Good, good. We'll get started on those within the next few days, I'll have someone inform you. Also, we have our superstar hotline tonight. After they're done chatting with the Headbangers, I'd like you to take over after Owen and Davey's match; JR and Cornette will help you with that. I know it's a lot to handle, but thank you for being a team player. Lady, gentleman." Vince gave both her and Shawn a polite goodbye nod before he sauntered away to where Gerry Brisco stood.

They were left alone again, staring at each other. Hannah sighed, crossing her arms.

"Alright, what do you want?" She demanded tiredly. "You're not just here to be nice, and I can tell when you're just putting on act, so why are you here?"

"Oh, you think I can't see the act you put on for everyone else? Maybe none of these idiots can tell, but I can. You know more about things than you're letting on and you're not as innocent as everyone thinks." She rolled her eyes.

"Shawn, if more people could realize I do know more than they think, I think my life would be easier." She snapped. "Just admit it; you want to know about Bret, don't you? As soon as Vince brought him up you looked even more like a spoiled brat than you normally do."

"I'll have you know I don't need to know about Bret, why do you think Hunter has been spending all this time with you?" Hannah merely raised an eyebrow, not believing any of his bluff.

"Look, if I tell you about Bret will you leave me alone?"

"You act as if I can't eat, sleep, or breathe without thinking about Bret. I don't spend my sweet precious time thinking about Bret every second of my days, okay?"

"I never said you did." She replied with a small smirk. He huffed. "What, so you don't care?"

"No." He replied stubbornly. He did, of course he did and of course she was right, and he hated that she knew it.

"What do you want to know about Bret? If he's coming back? He is, I don't understand why that was ever a question. He was always going to come back here."

"Oh, and what makes you so sure when WCW was willing to drop so much for him to go? Why do you think everyone else jumped ship?" She blinked at him unfazed.

"He got a better deal here."

"Bullshit." She shrugged.

"Okay. Not like Vince was sitting in Bret's dining room just the other day working on a contract. And it sounds like he'll bet set for 20 years here, you know, transitioning from working in the ring to outside of it." Shawn nearly exploded, but did his best to shrug it off. Hannah shrugged again innocently, almost as if they were discussing the weather. "And, he'll be making 10.5 million at the end of all of it." He really wanted to explode and call Bret every name under the sun and blow his stack, but he couldn't in front of her. He bit his tongue and pursed his lips together tightly, shrugging.

"It doesn't bother me. I just wanted to know." She looked at him carefully.

"Okay..." She replied skeptically, before shrugging. "I guess I just don't understand why you would even be bothered at all about what kind of contract Bret's getting. You're always so sure of yourself being a top draw, so what's the problem?"

Shawn felt himself growing angrier by the second as he stared at Hannah. He didn't expect her to understand; she wasn't dumb as he once had thought, though she was clearly naïve, and there were still aspects of the business she wasn't getting.

Of course it bothered him how much Bret would be making, especially hearing by how much more. Of course it bothered him knowing the rival company wanted him, and that Vince thought he was that important to the WWF, evidently more so than him. It was dawning on him more and more that a war was brewing, and he was at the helm of his show…and they were losing.

He swallowed and brushed the thought away, looking her up and down again.

"You thought he was gonna ask you to wrestle, didn't he?" He had knocked her down to an equal playing field now.

"Yeah. I did. And now I'm just shooting commercials and doing a hotline, like you said." Her gaze had dropped and she shrugged past him abruptly. With furrowed eyes, he watched her walk away without looking back.

A few moments later, he saw her on the monitor that was in the locker room. He stopped in his tracks to watch her, the way her smile didn't reach her eyes, how she seemed distracted.

"Man, what the fuck." Someone Shawn didn't care to look at said much too close behind his shoulder. "Where are them teensy weensy little overalls tonight? What else do I have to look forward to now?" Shawn frowned as he watched her button up the top button on the collar of her shirt before locking her arms around her. The men yelling at her from the crowd behind her back were probably recreating something close to what he could hear in the very room he was in, and suddenly, he had a new understanding.

That understanding was making him feel incredibly guilty; Shawn was practically squirming as he rode in the car with Hunter after the show. After 10 miles, he couldn't stand it anymore.

"I get it alright? You know I'm a jerk." Shawn snapped. Hunter looked at him calmly.

"There are millions of jerks out there. Sometimes you don't know they're jerks because they have this thing. It's called a filter." Shawn rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should get one. Better yet, maybe you should try to, ya know, not be a jerk at all."

"Are we really arguing over Hannah hart?"

"Shawn, it's ridiculous you don't even see the point." Hunter was shaking his head before he sighed. "You don't think you did anything wrong. You've been acting like a real dick ever since Hannah got here, because she isn't fawning over you. Because you're not used to rejection. Guess what: you don't always get what you want just because you decide it. Suck it up." Shawn was sputtering angrily again. It felt like he could never truly get his thoughts straight when it concerned Hannah Hart.

"I always get what I want!" He argued back weakly, to which Hunter demerited with a glance. "I had a bad day, alright? I heard some idiots in the locker room saying Nitro beat us again, and how it's my fault, and I took it out on the kid. I was going to apologize today, but she didn't let me—"

"Oh, were you?"

"Yes! And then she brought up Bret, and now I hear he's making a helluva lot more than me, and I—"

"So, what can you do about it? Huh? What can you do? Nothing. How is that anyone's fault, how is it hers? Who are you going to take it out on? It fucking sucks, I know, but it's not like you can change anything." Shawn leaned his elbow on the window, grumbling under his breath.

"Well then, Hunter, please feel free to tell me what the _real_ issue here is."

"The issue is, she's my friend, alright? A good one. I wouldn't let anyone treat you this way, and you know that. And before you even say it, no, I'm not just nice to her to get into her pants. I told you it ain't like that. She's met my parents, had dinner with them. Washed dishes and cleaned the whole damn house to repay us for letting her sleep on the couch downstairs three years ago, just so she could train at Killer Kowalski's school. I met her on the first day and she needed somewhere to stay." Shawn looked away from the window to Hunter at record speed. "I've never met anyone, man or woman, so passionate about wrestling. Besides you. She's like a little kid, I know she's naïve, but she loves this more than anything and you don't have the right to come around and try to make someone else miserable. Get over yourself. Everyone has bad days, you don't have to take it out on everyone else all the time." He was knocked silent for once, complete silence, as he took in Hunter's words.

"Look..." He spoke up after a while. "I don't have anything against women wrestling. But if we're going to be honest, we both know Vince doesn't view women in that light. He especially isn't going to take a chance on them after the stunt Alundra pulled—everybody knows it. She has to know it too."

"Well, who the hell do you think _you_ are to shit on her dreams?"

Shawn took up silently sulking again. He hated to be confronted in such manners. He hated it even more when he was in the wrong.

The next time he saw Hannah, he was seeking her out blatantly. Gnawing persistent guilt wasn't a feeling he was used to, and he realized he needed to apologize.

He walked into the back of a different Gold's Gym, where he found another ring with Hunter and Hannah inside it. Hunter was coaching her through a sequence, and she was about to give it a try, but as she turned to run the ropes, she stopped at the sight of Shawn. Hunter then turned and noticed him too.

"What do you want?" He asked after he glanced at Hannah, who now crossed her arms.

"Wow. It's pretty cold in here." He said, rubbing his arms and earning no reaction from either.

"Shawn—" Hunter began, using his no-nonsense-strictly-business voice. Shawn raised a hand as he climbed up on the apron.

"I just came to watch." He defended.

"Didn't you promise you would leave me alone?" Hannah groaned.

"If my memory serves me right, I made no promises of that nature. And, contrary to popular belief, I can keep my mouth shut if I want to." He promised her, sending her a wink almost involuntarily. Her face didn't move an inch.

"I want you to leave."

"Well, we don't always get what we want."

"Oh, you've made that very clear on multiple occasions." She sighed, sending Hunter a look of exasperation. But he wasn't leaving. He took a seat on the apron and waited patiently for them to start back up again. It started with a running bulldog sequence that she did over and over until she perfected, before moving onto the next sample: a running dropkick, until it too was perfect.

That's how they did it, drilling moves and getting down the muscle memory. Shawn actually watched this time rather than last time, the way she took in and considered every word of advice Hunter gave, how she worked to fix every part of her form. She worked tirelessly without complaint, like she never felt the tiredness.

Overall, she showed promise. At times shaky, she'd soon find her footing. She never looked at him once, not even with discomfort or hatred or anything to show she acknowledged his presence; it was like he wasn't there. Soon, the first real roadblock came when Hunter was trying to teach her how to do a gutwrench suplex.

"Now, this isn't exactly something you can try yourself today, but given an opponent who is your size, it wouldn't be a bad move to give your move-set diversity and demonstrate a classic power move with a bit of a twist." He performed the move on Hannah herself after he walked her through how to do it. She stayed laying on the mat for a moment.

"Hunter, I'm not sure I would be able to do that on anyone…" She murmured uncertainly as she sat up.

"Of course you can." Shawn spoke up from where he was watching. He stood up and climbed into the ring. "Take it from me, someone smaller." He gave her a pointed look and she raised her eyebrow at the hand he offered her to help her stand. When she didn't take it, he rolled his eyes and explained more. "This is my move, and I did it the way I did it because most of the men I wrestled were bigger than me." Hunter, who was standing and watching silently, now nodded thoughtfully.

"You're right. I didn't think about that." He looked back down at Hannah, who only inspected him warily. Finally, she took his outstretched hand.

"...How do you do it?" He gestured with his head, asking if it was okay if he showed her, and she gave a reluctant half-nod. He saw her swallow before he moved in closer towards her.

"Instead of hooking their arm around your neck and trying to lift them, bend a little and wrap your nearest arm around their waist…" he did as he told her, feeling her body tense under his touch. "And then, stick your other arm in between their legs to grab the back of the leg closest to you. You wanna lock your hand on your arm to create a solid grip to lift them with your shoulder, and when they jump into it, it's mainly the momentum that carries them down rather than you lifting them." When he looked up at her, she appeared a little flustered, but nodded to his words. He smiled; it was the first time he actually had some kind of effect on her.

He reveled in it. So he _did_ make her feel some kind of way. Eagerly, he looked up at her.

"Do you want me to show you?" She hesitated, and he grinned. "Trust me. I've seen you take a bump and the momentum will carry you. I won't let ya get hurt." Finally, she nodded. He locked his arms together again and instructed her when to jump, the both of them falling backwards to the mat.

He looked at her immediately to check on her; she was the lightest opponent he ever suplexed, that was for sure. She was already sitting up.

"The momentum does the work for you!" She said excitedly, as if it had clicked. Shawn nodded, standing and offering his hand again, but she was already up on her feet.

"It allows me to do it on anyone and it'll let you utilize your size." He inspected her. "You can try it on me, if you want." She gawked at him and he chuckled. "Let the momentum do the work; it's like giving someone a backdrop. You can do it." He beckoned her over to him.

"But you're still big and heavy! How am I supposed to…"

"Trust me, sweetheart." She gave him a glare that was less anger and more skepticism, but she bent down anyways and tried her best to lock a sturdy grip around him. She pushed upwards and he jumped more than he would've for someone else, the both of them tumbling backwards. It was shaky and certainly more of a rough landing than he was used to taking, but he didn't care about himself. Like before, he sat up to check on her, feeling panicked when he saw her still on her back. "Kid? Hey, you okay?" He crawled over to her, his heart dropping, only to see her smiling from her back. He chuckled a little as he stood, and looked down at her still smiling on her back.

"I did it." She said giddily, now grinning. "Aren't you 200 something pounds?' He had never seen this side of her, this excitement, this bubbly happiness. He laughed.

"Didn't I tell ya?" She laughed outright as she sat up, shooting Hunter a grin.

"I love wrestling, it's magical." She got to her feet like a child dizzy from the euphoria of spinning in circles, or rolling down a hill. Shawn sent Hunter, who was still smiling, a look and almost understood now why he was so keen on helping her. Not only was there something rewarding about teaching someone something and seeing them motivated enough to learn, there was the chance to watch them improve. And he was the reason for it. And then there was moments like this, a glimpse of passion, a glimpse of utter love for what she was learning, loving something he loved too.

"You know, that wasn't bad." He admitted, looking her up and down. She was better than some he'd witness train, and in many ways...a natural. "You're not bad." The childlike happiness was gone and replaced with wariness again as she sized him up, apparently trying to figure out if he meant what he said. He rolled his eyes under her scrutinizing gaze. "I don't hand out compliments, ya know. I meant it, you're not bad."

"Why don't you see for yourself." Hunter suddenly suggested with a smirk. "Do a little mini match-up."

"Oh no," Hannah immediately refused, shaking her head vigorously.

"You're more than ready to string together a short match and it's good practice. We did it at the school. Plus, Shawn's a veteran, he'll carry you through it."

"No, you know, I should probably get going, actually. I told Owen we could get lunch." She said hastily, already moving to leave through the ropes. Shawn chuckled.

"It's alright, Hunter, she's clearly not ready." She stopped walking, looking at him with the beginning of a frown.

"…Not ready? Have you not been watching me—even Hunter said I'm more than ready. I just don't want to." Shawn nodded and she only looked more perplexed.

"I know you don't. It makes me wonder how seriously you really take this. I'm the WWF champion, do you know how many people out there would give anything to do a match with me for the opportunity to learn something?" Now she scoffed, her eyes narrowed.

"Oh, don't flatter yourself." Shawn shrugged nonchalantly.

"You know, you didn't strike me as someone who ran from a challenge. You almost fooled me today…maybe you are just meant to be a valet." Before this moment, it always felt like her anger was a booby trap he accidentally stumbled into. But now, he knew exactly what to say to see that fire spark instantly in her eyes. Without another word she walking to the opposite corner, her jaw set and eyes dark. Hunter looked between them.

"Alright, I'll call it. Ding, ding."

Shawn sized her up, waiting for apprehension or some kind of realization to sink in on her face, but it never did. Maybe it was stubbornness, or confidence, or plain old determination, but skill was what was really needed, and he was about to find out if she had any.

He stepped closer confidently, wearing a smirk as he reached his hands out towards her. They locked up, and he quickly drove her backwards into the corner turnbuckle. He told her to reverse his punch before he threw it, and she blocked it on time, before she began throwing some of her own and fought her way back out towards the middle of the ring.

When she put her arm around his neck, he told her to run the ropes and drove her backwards into it, bouncing her off of it and sending her running towards the opposite one. Without hesitating, she met him with a shoulder block and he took the bump before rolling to his stomach, making her jump over his body as she ran the adjacent rope. This time he made it to his feet and jumped leap frog style over her head, only to turn and be nailed straight with a roundhouse kick.

"Oof!" Shawn heard Hunter say as Shawn took another bump. Apparently, he was providing commentary too. "Irish whip, like Owen!" Triple H instructed as Shawn made it to his feet again.

"Hey, no coaching, that's cheating!" Shawn argued, but let her whip him towards the ropes. When he bounced back towards her, she nailed him with Owen's signature spinning heel kick. He found himself heading towards the rope as he stood and as he expected, received a clothesline to the outside of the ring.

"You're doing great, Han." Hunter encouraged from inside the ring. He wasn't wrong; so far, she had only needed minimal guidance. The rest seemed to come naturally.

When he stood up outside the ring, he panicked to see Hannah running towards the ropes.

 _Is this girl gonna jump over the ropes, is she nuts?_ He thought to himself, quickly readying to catch her before realizing she was going for baseball slide under the ropes. He slipped out of the way, causing her to slide out. He sent a quick punch towards her.

"Sell more," he critiqued as he punched her again. She was leaning against the apron now, and he grabbed a hold of her pants to shove her back underneath the ropes and into the ring. He went to climb the corner turnbuckle and jumped, warning her to counter it, which she did with a swift arm to his midsection.

He fell to his knees and was driven back towards the opposite turnbuckle when he made it back to his feet. Hannah directed him again with an Irish whip, where he met the opposite corner with his signature flip over the top turnbuckle. He decided to stay put, "caught", and waited to see what she would do with that. She didn't disappoint and decided to deliver a kick to his midsection. He flew up in exaggeration and fell back, tumbling to the mat. She didn't put a stop to the momentum in her favor and pulled him up to Irish whip him again, warning him to expect a swinging DDT. It was perfect.

That was when she went for the first pin. He kicked out at two.

"Aw, c'mon, Hunter." She muttered, standing back up and pulling Shawn up with her. They continued to go back and forth trading punches. When she Irish whipped him off the ropes again, she caught him with a sleeper hold around his neck and used her weight to pull him backwards to the mat, where she locked her legs around his waist.

She had a firm grip around him, and despite her size, she was very formidable. Shawn began chuckling to himself, and she seemed to hear him because she tightened her grip even more.

He finally fought his way out of her grip and hovered over her, throwing punches. After he was done with that assault he pulled her up and bounced her head off the corner turnbuckle before throwing her towards the opposite. When she stumbled back towards him he threw a dropkick and went for the pin. She kicked out at two.

He fixed her in an upright sitting position and locked a sleeper hold around her neck, letting them catch their breath. They were both sweating and breathing a little harder. Soon, she fought her way to a standing position and with a flurry of elbows, drove him to the turnbuckle, where she went back to targeting his midsection with a few knees. Triple H was giving praise behind her shoulder and Shawn imagined her garnering a pop from the crowd.

When she went for another Irish whip, he reversed it and sent her into the turnbuckle instead, and ran towards her, telling her to counter. She pulled herself upwards to sit on the turnbuckle and he stopped right in between her legs, which allowed her to position herself for a sunset flip and pin. He kicked out at two, and received a huff of frustration.

There was a frustrated scowl on her face when she sent him running into the turnbuckle. She came running at him, and he quickly used the ropes to jump over and behind to pull her down for a schoolboy sweep pin. He forced his weight down on her so she couldn't kick out even when she tried.

Her chest heaved for air like his as he smirked down at her.

"Did you think I was gonna let you win?" He asked. She sat up with a pout.

"You didn't even use a finishing move." He laughed at the disappointment in her tone.

"I didn't have to, kiddo. You don't when you're that good." Shawn stood and walked to Hunter to raise his arm, and he did so with a small grin. Hannah was sitting up, watching him with raised eyebrows.

"Here's your winner and still the WWF champion…Shawn Michaels!" Hunter announced in exaggeration, clapping Hannah on the shoulder playfully as she stood. She shook her head at Shawn as he danced around, wondering if he could get that happiness back. The fire in her eyes was gone, replaced now with a small smile.

"Alright, I'm done. I don't need this show, I'd rather shower."

"You did good today, Hannah." Hunter called, glancing at Shawn. He said nothing, but watched her walk over to her bag and shoulder it, pausing to find a bottle of water. Without really thinking, he rolled out from under the ropes and approached her.

"You really did prove me wrong today." He said as he approached her. It was almost a relief to see her with a neutral expression rather than a livid one. "Maybe we should just start all over, huh?"

"Maybe. You can't take back first impressions though." He stared at her and remembered what he first thought of her.

"You didn't make a bad first impression on me."

"Hm. I remember talking to you for the first time was like a car wreck and it felt like I had whiplash. It wasn't pleasant." She tried walking away, but he chased after her.

"Woah, woah, woah—hey. Look. I'm not always like this, I swear. It's why I came to see you today. I realized, maybe I haven't been so nice to you after-all, and I just wanted you to know I had a bad day the other day, and it was wrong to take it out on you. I'm sorry, I guess I just don't get why you're doing it." She smiled at him, before he realized it was a smirk. "Why _are_ you doing it?"

"Well, why would I explain it to you. You don't really care. I mean, wouldn't you rather talk about Bret?" He didn't even get annoyed at her accusation, it only made him realize it was the first day he actually hadn't thought about him.

"Well how can I help you out if I don't know why you're doing it?" She smiled as she stepped closer, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"What makes you think I need your help?" He didn't know what to say for once.


End file.
